Avoiding the Extroverts
by Elis Island
Summary: I know we've all read the stories about an outgoing OC and how they magically solve all the problems. Not this girl. Niotomi Madoka belongs to an introverted clan that tries to stay away from the drama and she'll try her hardest to live up to those expectations. Inspired by "Unsung Story of the Inconspicuous" and an author that's tired of reading cliche fanfictions.
1. Chapter 1

_"It was just a story compared to legends. At least, that's what everybody that's a nobody said, and for everybody that's a somebody, it was an epiphany._

 _And for those in between society's definition of a Nobody and a Somebody, well, you're here, aren't you?"_

Niotomi Madoka's eyebrow rose exactly a half centimeter upon reading such a strange passage. Her book, "The Inbetween," had been a gift to Madoka from her father, Niotomi Dai.

"Madoka-san, are you listening?"

Madoka's eyes slowly slid across page 4 of "The Inbetween," and rose to meet her teacher's sharp, scrutinizing gaze. Many thoughts ran through her head on what she wanted to say, such as , "No, and I don't plan on it," or "I've got ears and it's impossible to _not_ listen to you," but as a stickler as she was for telling the truth, Madoka didn't fancy getting in trouble on her first day at the Academy.

So instead, she let an antonym of her thoughts roll off her tongue as water within a waterfall, naturally.

"Yes."

The teacher's gaze narrowed, and Madoka temporarily feared the inevitable.

"What is the first shinobi rule?"

"Juniper berries," she thought disdainfully, letting out a hum. How was she supposed to answer that? She'd been reading "The Inbetween," for the better part of the hour. Her dad would probably say something regarding probabilities, but she wasn't her dad, and with that thought, Madoka had fomulated an answer.

"I don't know." She didn't even know the teacher's name, or who these kids were. How would she know what some rule was?

"Shino-san," the teacher snapped, eyes never leaving Madoka, "Can you answer the question?"

"Love the village and hope to preserve peace and prosperity." Madoka's gaze slid from her teacher to the kid sitting next to her. Strangely enough, he wore sunglasses, a black trench coat, and long pants, even though it was hot outside. Madoka herself wore a dark green shirt and shorts. Her shoes, like everyone's, was a pair of black shinobi sandals, very common.

"Thank you, Shino-san. Madoka, maybe you should follow his lead and listen," the teacher offered, frowning. When she nodded her head tentatively, the teacher resumed the lecture and Madoka resumed her book.

The Niotomi's were a very peculiar family. Madoka's father, Dai, was the part of the Torture and Interrogation department and her mother was a deceased jounin, but that wasn't why they were peculiar. Along with being apart of the T&I department, the Niotomi were known for being extremely philosophical. That was the lone trait that made them stand out from the rest. Compared to the Hyuuga's or the Uchiha's, the Niotomi's were very bland and dull and possessed almost no uniqueness, which is what the clan wanted the village to think. There was only a file to inform the future Hokages that kept the leaders of Konoha from asking questions about the Niotomi clan.

From a very young age, every Niotomi was taught never to bring attention to themselves. The whole point of being a Niotomi was to survive, and long ago, during the founding of Konohagakure, Niotomi Ka, the first of the family, realized that to survive, you had to be fast and stealthy. If people saw you flamboyantly showing off skills, or showing any genius to anything, they became suspicious. From suspicion arose questions, and when questions were avoided, people got more suspicious.

And Madoka wasn't about to soil the Niotomi image, so she read her book and kept quiet and didn't draw attention to herself, like a good little Niotomi should.

As the class dragged on, Madoka's attention remained on her intriguingly philosophical novel, but every once in a while, she scribbled something down in a notebook, just so the teacher wouldn't ask questions. Upon reading an inspirational quote, her hand twitched to her pencil, wanting to underline it, but if she showed interest in something, others would show interest in her.

She settled for bending the corner of the page to mark where the quote was.

"And Konoha was founded by the Senju and Uchiha..." the teacher informed, scanning every 8 year old in the room, checking if they were paying attention. Madoka's hand found the pencil and jotted down what the teacher had said, avoiding another scolding.

Somewhere, a bell rang and the teacher said it was lunchtime.

Carefully marking her place in the book, Madoka grabbed her bento from under her seat and filed outside with the rest of the class, observing and avoiding the loud girls. Secretly, Madoka wondered what made Uchiha Sasuke so special. Sure, he was popular and the clan head's second son, but that was about it.

Settling on a bench just outside the Academy, Madoka started on an apple and watched the other kids sit in groups. Even though the others were laughing and talking and bragging, she was very content with where she was sitting. Nevermind that she was sitting alone, because talking to others brought interest about you and that wasn't okay in her clan.

"Mind if we sit here?" Glancing 132 degrees to her right, she secretly grimanced at the site of two boys. One was... chubby, with swirls on his cheeks and the other had spiky hair pulled back into a low ponytail. From the site of their outfits, Madoka deduced that they were clan kids, because nobody wore just a mesh shirt at this age.

"Sure." Now, she might be doing the opposite of what a Niotomi should do, but it'd be more suspicious if she'd said no.

"Thanks. I'm Akamichi Chouji and that's Nara Shikamaru." As they sat down, Makoda silently detested her bad luck. Of course they were an Akamichi and a Nara.

Along with being taught to not stand out, the Niotomi clan also taught the children that if someone had a prefix of "Chou-", "Shika-" or "Ino-", chances were, they were part of the Akamichi, Nara or Yamanaka clan. That combination alone was the exact opposite of the Niotomi clan, who didn't want anyone asking questions about them. With this in mind, the Niotomis were also taught to use deductive reasoning and pay attention to their surroundings, as to avoid those three clans, specifically the Nara, as they were startlingly observant and smart.

"And you are...?" Shikamaru drawled, opening his bento.

"Niotomi Madoka," she replied, knowing that if she refused to give them her name, they'd become suspicious.

They ate in silence and when they were done, the two boys laid down in the grass and stared at the sky.

In the end, Madoka decided that they didn't really care about making friends with her, which she was grateful for.

At the end of the day, instead of walking to the Niotomi compound, she made her way to T&I. After all, her father loved his job and he knew she'd make her way to T&I just fine, since they'd walked there together before.

After greeting the receptionist, she made her way down the winding hallways until she arrived at her father's office. Although some doors were soundproof, others weren't and she heard a few screams coming from other doors, which wasn't anything new. Raising a fist, she knocked on the door three times.

"Come in." Upon hearing her father's voice, Madoka opened the door and stepped in the cramped space that was her father's office. At his desk, Niotomi Dai was hard at work, filling out umbrage paperwork. Eyes wondering the office, Madoka spotted a red apron hanging on a hook near the door, and beneath it, drops of red were splattered on the white tile.

"So, how was your first day?" Dai asked, not looking up from the papers. He knew her chakra signature anywhere. Tearing her eyes from the blood splotches on the ground, she also noted that her father's office was unusually clean, besides the blood.

"It was..." Madoka searched for the right word, "excruciatingly uneventful."

"That's good," he replied, finally looking at his daughter, who'd sat down in the chair adjacent to his. "Who's in your class?"

"Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji."

"Shikaku's kid, huh? Just like his dad?" It was more of a statement than question, but Madoka said yes anyway.

Collecting the papers on his desk, Dai put them in a folder and filed it away. "So, did they ask you to sit with them?" Used to the unusually right theories her father asked, Madoka told him about her day and how boring the teacher was.

"So, now that I guessed your day, how about you guess mine?" She was used to her father's antics, but understood them. He wanted her to be observant at all times and draw inferences from what she observed. It wasn't a skill that most shinobi or kunoichi employed, but the Niotomis made it a requirement for the whole clan, not just the ninja. That's why Dai was so good at his job. He picked apart the prisoners' habits, like biting nails, looking around when nervous, or reacting to something he said and used it against them.

"Well, judging from the blood splotches on the ground, you interrogated someone today. Was it someone who didn't talk or someone that didn't react to something you said?"

"Both." Judging by the brief reply, her father was going to make her deductions difficult and not give away any clues as to what he'd been doing. "Then what?" He asked.

"Your office is clean and it's never clean," she continued, searching his face for any signs of if she was right, "Did someone important come by?"

"Yes... Now, here's the real question: Who was it?"

Upon hearing the question, Madoka sighed and looked around again. The floor was clean, save for those blood patches and a cold noodle next to his desk. Glancing around, she looked for more evidence and found it. The window, he never left his window open. Her father was too paranoid to leave a window open. Approaching the large, suspicious window, she scrutinized the windowsill and found two light dirt marks slightly apart from each other.

So, her father had interrogated someone today, someone who wouldn't talk. He also ate ramen for lunch, judging from the limp noodle on the ground and someone important had dropped by his office, hence why he cleaned it. But that still didn't explain the marks on the windowsill.

"I give up." Her father's face fell a little, but he quickly recomposed himself.

"It's okay. I saw your eyes linger on the noodle, so I assume you know what I had for lunch. The marks on the window are there because they left through the window, and they is Aburame-san."

"Oh..." She felt a little throttled. She should've known what the marks meant.

"It's okay," Dai piped, rising from his desk. Madoka's eyes narrowed in on her father's hands, which had gabbed something from the large desk and were now behind his back.

"As a present for the first day of the Academy, I've given you my old weights!" Dai exclaimed, revealing four, flat, flesh colored weights in his hands. Shockingly, Madoka wasn't surprised. It was inevitable in her clan, and nearly all the Niotomi wore them.

"Thanks, Otou-san," she said with a smile. Laying her arms on his desk, Dai put two of the weights on her forearms and helped her with the ones on her feet. Then, he wrapped her arms, so it looked like she just had white wrapping around her arms and legs. He also explained that the weight was controlled by chakra and the more chakra put in, the more weight there was. Since she couldn't use chakra yet, he put ten pounds in each weight, saying it was better to start with ten and not five, since she could easily lift five pounds in each hand.

So, now she was 40 pounds heavier, and she could definitely feel it. Every week, her father would add two pounds to each weight.

Academy life wasn't as exciting as the Torture and Interrogation building.

* * *

 **AN: I don't own Naruto. Plus, welcome to a story like no other. I know there's not many stories where someone actively avoids attention, so here's one. Tell me if you love it so far.**


	2. Chapter 2

If there was anything the Niotomi clan despised, it was their hair.

Their wine _red_ hair.

There was nothing more unruly or outrageous to a clan of introverts than wine red hair. It stood out. It brought stares. It attracted _questions_. Of course, they could always dye it, but the clan had long ago given up on the idea, because no matter how many times they dyed their hair, the reddish hue always shone through.

Madoka wasn't an exception to this loathed gene, as her own shoulder-lengthed, spiky hair was much brighter than her father's deep red hue. Her's was more of a hot red, like a pepper or a tomato. Of course, her father had married a pink haired jounin, so that was probably the cause. It also stuck out in all directions, even up, which Madoka thought was a definment of gravity. She must've gotten it from her dead mother.

Her eyes were dark brown, as was every Niotomi's. Brown was the dominant gene, after all. Madoka's nose was small and pointy, probably inherited from her grandma and her features were overall "sharp enough to cut through skin" as her father loved to state.

She was currently sprawled out in the center of a Niotomi training ground, reading, "The Inbetween." Madoka had just finished a training session with her father, and didn't currently feel the need to return home anytime soon. The week had passed rather slowly, and the Academy hadn't shown much promise on any entertainment, so she was currently attempting to quench her unexcitment.

A Niotomi's training usually started at the age of 6, as to not stunt any growth, yet gave them a head start on surviving life. They were expected to show mastery over flexibility at 6, as not to tear or rip any developing muscles. This was as far as the civilian portion of the clan was trained, as they didn't want the life of a ninja, yet all Niotomi were required to show mastery over flexibility, as the mere act of performing the splits could save one's life. After all, survival was the main goal within the clan, and civilians weren't an exception. Even though they didn't pursue the life of a shinobi, the civilian portion of the Niotomi ate healthy and exercised every once in a while. While this may not seem like much, other clans, like the Uchiha or Hyuuga, expected their offspring to become shinobi and usually didn't have a choice in the matter.

The ninja portion of the Niotomi however, did not stop at 6. Along with speed training, they were taught the art of deduction and inference. Unlike the Nara, the Niotomi didn't make the mistake of allowing laziness to rule their lives; in fact, it was frowned upon within the clan to slack off.

Madoka was rather exhausted, having just run six cooldown laps around the rather large and round training ground. She was slowly getting used to the weights that adorned her forearms and calves, but her father had added two pounds to each weight yesterday. He's said it'd be like this for a short period of time, as she "just had to get used to them." No matter how much she didn't enjoy them, it had dawned on her that she'd never take them off. After hearing how much Dai had been hauling around (150 pounds in each weight), she realized that the weights really did help, because when you took them off, it was like "walking on air," as her father described it.

That was the only thing preventing her from taking the retched things off. Although she knew it was probably just a hyperbole, she, being the 8-year old she was, couldn't resist the surrealism of such an atrocious idea and decided to keep them for as long as it took to experience such an impossible thought.

Closing her book with a snap, Madoka hauled herself to her feet, noting the bruises on her hands and legs. It was a good thing, she decided, feeling a burning sensation in her arms and stomach. Dai had made her punch a tree fifty times with each arm. Then, he'd made her kick it fifty times with each leg. After that, she worked on her abdominal muscles by doing sit-ups. Her legs were probably the only things not burning, as she'd been building up her leg muscles for two years now.

It was the first training session where she'd actually worked on fighting. For as long as she could remember, it'd been nonstop speed training, as it was expected of all Niotomi to be quick on their feet.

It spoke a lot about what the clan's morals were.

Making her way back to the clan compound, she practiced observing her surroundings. Her father had always warned her to be wary, as you never knew when someone could strike. So, she tried her best to avoid crunching a leaf or snapping a twig, as she tuned in on her environment. It was hard, because there wasn't any way to prevent a leaf from crunching, as the path back to the Niotomi compound was littered with the loud obstacles.

"Hello?" She called out, noting how small her voice sounded compared to the vast and empty forest. Madoka couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched, but maybe it was her father's paranoia rubbing off on her. Dai had actually cut her training short, having received a summons from Moroni Ibiki himself. Normally, he wouldn't let her go off alone, but seeing as they'd been training on Niotomi land, he'd left her to her own devices, saying, "This'll be a great opportunity to start doing things by yourself."

Plus, it wasn't every day you got a summons from the head of T&I. It must've been something big, Madoka decided. She also realized that she wasn't very important, as she wasn't part of the Head Branch of the Niotomi; she was just one of the other 200 or so people that regularly avoided other humans.

When no one responded, she didn't feel any more at ease, even when she rounded off the chances of something happening to 1/9. There were several factors to take into account, and with so many factors, there was probably a lot she'd left out of her probability.

"Look, I know you're there," she called out, feeling gullible and foolhardy to believe her instincts. If no one was there, than no one would hear her silly accusations.

No one replied.

Instead of feeling relief, she only grew more paranoid. The emptiness of the forest started closing in on her and she gripped her book tighter. Situations began flying through her head as to what could happen. With how empty and quie-

Quiet.

Her thoughts halted and she zeroed in on a minor detail she'd almost overlooked. It was too quiet. With the sun going down and the lone fact that it was fall, she realized that crickets should be chirping. Recalling the faint breeze she'd felt during training, Madoka's ears picked up no sound of tree leaves gently brushing against each other.

Something's here, Madoka realized. Standing as still as she could, the young and paranoid Niotomi tried to analyze the situation. All possibilities were shot down by probabilities that the girl pictured.

Snapping out of her paralyzed state, she sprinted to the compound as quickly as she could. As she ran, she chastised herself for allowing her own mind to scare her like that. It was just her father's paranoia rubbing off on her.

At least, that's what she kept trying to convince herself.

 **ANBU Perspective:**

They'd been assigned a simple recon mission. Observe, report back, collect the pay. It was a weekly thing. The Hokage wanted all the clans loyalty observed. The leader of the three man cell absolutely despised those kinds of missions, as they ate up small time the ANBU could spend on break.

So instead of someone important from the boring and monotonous Niotomi clan, Beaver had chosen Niotomi Madoka, an 8-year old girl that had started the Academy earlier that week. She wasn't part of the Head Branch and had bright red hair, something the Hokage had noted, that was considered a "curse" within the Niotomi clan.

They were something of a mystery to the ANBU, as the Hokage never really elaborated on why they were all so paranoid. So far, there were multiple bets on the Niotomi for why they were superstitious, ranging from being a cult, politics, a system like the Hyuuga's, hating others, or simply because they were ninja.

That last one was Beaver's own bet. The ninja life did make people paranoid.

After the girl had been left by her father, she finished off her laps and chose to read a book. It wasn't a surprise that Dai had left Madoka, as he was part of T&I and a jounin. He regularly left her and didn't bother to pick her up from the Academy, stating, "It would look suspicious."

That statement had further stumped the ANBU after it was passed around Headquarters. After all, a lot of people had bets on the Niotomi clan and they wanted whatever dirt they could get.

Noting the wrappings around the girl's calves and forearms, Beaver started wondering if he'd made the right bet. It was also a mystery as to why nearly the whole clan wore weights. Even the civilians adorned the heavy bracelets, which was a first for Konoha.

Beaver, Frog, and Lizard followed the girl as she trekked back to the compound. Even though they were sure they were hidden in the dense foliage of the trees, the girl stopped and asked if anyone was there.

 _"How?"_ Frog signed, using one of Konoha's many sign languages.

 _"Paranoia,"_ Beaver signed back. Lizard observed quietly. After she repeated the question, Lizard join in on the silent chatter.

 _"Aren't they know to be sensory nin?"_

 _"Nobodies reported any chakra sensory training among the young ones in the clan, but yes,"_ Beaver replied, also perplexed.

 _"Even then, how would she know we were here?"_ Frog asked.

 _"Again, I believe it's paranoia,"_ Beaver answered. After 30 seconds had passed of Madoka standing still, she took off in a dead sprint to the clan's compound.

All reports from the ANBU stated that nearly all the Niotomi were trained in flexibility and speed training since the age of 6. Even though the cell was ANBU, Beaver had to admit, that the speed training shined through, as she was ridiculously fast for someone her age. Another interesting note, was that the strange clan had the summoning scroll for spiders of all things, but they only let someone sign it when they graduated the Academy.

When questions were thrown at the Niotomi within ANBU, they simply said they were paranoid, like any other ninja. That's were Beaver had gotten the idea to place his bet.

The clan was strange.

* * *

 **AN: Thanks for the review, May525! Disclaimer is in the first chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

Niotomi Dai was overprotective and paranoid: possibly the worst combination one could ever hope for in a father, yet those two traits defined the Niotomi clan.

At any point in time, Madoka usually had at least three small, female Black Widows in her bright red hair, thanks to her father. Normally, people would panic at the sight of any Black Widow spider, but what most didn't know, was that the males were harmless. It was the deadly females that were feared by the most informed.

Spiders were the Niotomi summon, as the hawk was to the Uchiha, yet they weren't _normal_ summons. In a village of ninja, why would _anything_ be mundane? A deal had been struck with the spider kingdom by one of Madoka's ancestors. As long as there were things to eat and a place to inhabit, the spiders would remain faithful to the Niotomi clan.

Of course, this "place to inhabit" _had_ to be the clan compound. Madoka had gotten used to seeing large Camel spiders scurrying throughout the compound to deliver messages. She'd gotten used to finding a nest of spiders under her bed or around her room, usually Jumping or Crab spiders. She hadn't gotten used to finding arachnids scurrying through her clothes, which they'd made a new habit of their's. Of course, when she found them in her closet, she politely asked them to get out, which they always did.

The "things to eat" were bugs and insects found throughout the forests of Konoha. At no point in time, would any flies be found buzzing throughout the compound. If the umbrage visitors decided to buzz in, it was an intense race throughout the spider colonies to catch the annoying pest first, as flies were considered a treat in the spider world. Of course, only the smaller spiders went after flies.

The larger species, like the Camel or the Goliath Birdeater, went after things like rats and mice, sometimes birds if they were fast enough. Why wouldn't the spiders be fast enough? The knowledge from their human counterparts aided the 8-legged creatures in their feasting habits, plus the mere fact that the spiders and Niotomi had worked together for nearly a century contributed to the fact that the spiders were faster than they had been.

Of course, there were drawbacks to living with the arachnid kingdom. Silky webs were _everywhere_. It was rare to find a place within the clan where there wasn't any sticky webs. Another was that although the spider kingdom had learned not to scurry on the ground, people constantly had to be on the lookout for a young arachnid that hadn't learned that lesson yet.

It was a small price to pay for living with such tiny, yet deadly creatures. That was also the reason why visitors were discouraged throughout the clan.

Madoka was always confused on how the spiders understood Japanese. They never spoke it, but they understood the language, which was how the clan ordered them around. It had Madoka dumbfounded, but she didn't question it.

"Madoka-san!" Iruka-sensei exclaimed from the front of the room, "Are you paying attention?"

Madoka, the ever loving book reader, had not been paying attention. She'd been too wrapped up in _The Inbetween_ to bother listening to Iruka-sensei. After all, it wasn't everyday one comes across such an entrancing book.

"No, Iruka-sensei, I'm sorry," she offered with a sigh, closing her beloved hardback. It was her third week at the Academy, and this was the second time he'd gotten on to her. She suspected it wouldn't be the last.

"Detention!" It appeared as if he wanted to say more, but he resumed his lecture on chakra, which the class wouldn't start exploring till next year, due to undeveloped chakra coils.

So, with a sigh and a dreary mind, Madoka exchanged _The Inbetween_ for a pencil and paper.

 **Iruka's Perspective:**

This class was probably his most difficult as of late. Through some unimaginable twist of fate, he'd ended up with _8_ clan kids, **8**! Four of them knew how to behave, like Chouji, Sasuke, Hinata, and Shino. The other four... well, two of them acted out and the other two didn't pay attention.

He somewhat understood why Shikamaru dozed off, but Madoka was a mystery. In fact, her entire clan was a _mystery_ to the  chuunin. Upon reading over the kids he'd be teaching for the next four years, Iruka was... puzzled. Seeing as how they weren't ninja, it was Iruka's job to create and manage their files for their jounin-sensei, should the graduate the Academy. He also took the time to research the clan kids, to look out for any behavioral issues in class.

The first mention of the Niotomi clan came out of an old textbook, of all things. Had Iruka been teaching kids 8 years ago, he would've heard of them.

 _"...and the oldest noble clans in Konoha are the Uchiha, Aburame, Akimichi, and Hyuuga. The known clans include the Aburame and Niotomi. While the Aburame is included in the noble and known clans, note that the Niotomi are as old as the Uchiha and other similiar clans."_

After scanning through the same textbook, Iruka found that it only said 'Niotomi' twice. It perplexed him, seeing as how they were as old as the beloved Uchiha clan, _and_ they weren't mentioned in the latest editions of the Academy's history textbooks. His next source was from one of his jounin friends, Asuma Sarutobi, of all people.

 _"The Niotomi? Eh... they've always been a puzzle to me. Always secretive and paranoid, at least that's what I've heard from rumors. Never actually met the Clan Head, oddly enough..."_

Iruka's interest was _peaked_. His last source came from a book called, "Summonings in Konoha," an old book he'd picked up from the Shinobi library. When he asked why there was only one copy, he was told that the Niotomi had requested that the copy be destroyed three years ago, after finding out it existed, and the Third Hokage had denied their request, but only allowed chuunin level or above to access it.

 _The Hatake family is currently in possession of the Dog summoning scroll._

 _The Hiruzen family is currently in possession of the Monkey summoning scroll._

 _The Niotomi clan is currently in possession of the Spider summoning scroll. Note: The shinobi children of the Niotomi clan usually contain female Black Widows in their hair, if their hair is thick enough to conceal them. If not, the spiders are hidden elsewhere on the children._

Whatever Iruka had expected, it wasn't spiders, of all things.

* * *

 **AN: Sorry to cut this so short, but the holiday season is upon us and I've got to pack. Let me know what y'all think! Disclaimer is in the first chapter.**

 **Re. AN: I just got done packing and am off to the airport. I just want to know if any of y'all would be interested in a holiday themed chapter? Or a chapter explaining how the Third Hokage met the Clan Head of the Niotomi? I'll try to type some stuff up, but for now, I've got to go.**

 **Also, I don't know if anyone here likes the switched perspectives, so let me know if you guys like it or don't like it, please.**


	4. Bonus Chapter

Two days after the detention, Iruka-sensei had assigned groups assignments. Being the sharp teacher he was, he also chose the pairs. Perhaps it was what she'd eaten earlier that morning, or the fact that one of the three sister spiders in her hair had girth to spread, and had to be replaced by another sister, but it remained that she'd been paired with Aburame Shino.

He was a withheld wall of stoic, and Madoka decided that perhaps it was the stars to blame for the unlucky pairing.

Apart from shoving their desks together, both hadn't spoken a word to the other. When the girl of the pair saw Iruka-sensei peering silently at them from his desk, she quickly turned to the quiet boy.

"I've got the paper?" She told him, but it came out as a question. A tiny cough later and a piece of paper was placed in between the two desks.

While he wrote his name at the top of it, Madoka wondered why they'd been paired. He was... strange, but sometimes strange was good.

Lazily writing her own name underneath his, she noted how small and organized his writing was. A sign of someone withdrawn or distant, maybe philosophical, if they were lucky.

He stared at her chicken scratch for a moment before turning his head exactly 87 degrees to the right and observed the redhead, who in turn observed him.

Aburame Shino was a riddle, something Madoka wanted to solve. Quiet, calm, withheld, all signs pointed to him being an introvert, but she hadn't yet accounted for the inexplicable, such as family or his own outlook on life. If anything, Madoka thought he was a foreshadowing of her own future persona.

"Why don't you think I'm weird?" He questioned, averting her gaze. The question was sudden, like a punch to the gut, or like finding a Jumping spider in one's porridge, which had happened to her this morning.

"I... what?" Madoka didn't quite understand. All the telltale signs of him not asking her questions had been there, yet he'd broken the expectations of the young Niotomi.

"You don't think I'm weird, right?"

"Well... yeah, but wha-"

"Why?"

A quick re-evaluation was performed and she realized that she'd read him wrong. He was turned to her, a sign of body language awareness, and his circular, dark glasses were trained on her face, as if trying to memorize her features. It took her a second to collect her thoughts and produce a decent response.

"Because... you're not. Does that answer your question?" Forget the assignment, this kid was way more fun to talk to. Leaning back, the Aburame sighed quietly, which didn't escape the young deducer next to him. His sharp gaze, however, didn't leave Madoka, which she understood.

Her father had told her all about body language and how people interpreted things differently. She was something of a prodigy when it came to reading people, like her father.

"Do you... want to start?" She asked hesitantly, nodding towards the blank paper.

Done with speaking, Shino reverted back to silence. He wrote down the first couple of problems from the board at the front of the room, and Madoka wrote down the last half of them. For an introvert and a silent person, they got the paper done rather quickly, considering that the bell had just rang for lunch.

Collecting her book and notes, Madoka started getting up before she actually thought about how alone Shino must feel. She wasn't deaf; she'd heard the things the other kids called him. As someone who wasn't supposed to draw attention, she knew what it felt like to be alone. Her only company was her thoughts and the other Niotomi, though there wasn't really a difference between the two.

"Shino-san," she started shakily. It was frowned upon to make friends with clan kids, but after a quick glance at the Aburame, she started wondering why it was frowned upon. "Do you want to eat lunch with me?"

She'd had to force herself to ask the question before doubt crept up, but she was glad she'd asked, because although she couldn't see it, she felt like he'd smiled a little, and for some reason, that made her feel as if she did the right thing.

 _Wasn't it the right thing to do?_

A nod was what she received, but it was an understatement, she was sure of it.

Outside, the two kids sat under a tree, escaping the sun's bright rays. Both their bentos were open, but neither were eating. It was just them, as Chouji and Shikamaru had left her alone after seeing she was with Shino. Honestly, she didn't understand why they sat with her sometimes, as she hadn't done or said anything to them.

"Why do you have three spiders in your hair?"

Said spiders bristled, unused to being discovered by others. Madoka's hair was very thick and very red, they weren't supposed to be seen.

"How do you know they're there?" She asked back, suspicious. The Niotomi shivered a little as the spiders walked towards her hairline. Their legs felt so weird when they walked. Usually, they fell asleep on her head and opted to stay there until she got to the clan compound, but the replacement widow hadn't slept a wink since Madoka's started talking to the Aburame.

"My clan studies bugs and insects," he explained, opening up to the Niotomi.

"Well, they're there because my dad is overprotective."

"That's dangerous though," he replied, starting on his meal. She followed his example, remembering that they were running today.

"Eh... for some reason, they're antsy around you, like they can smell a fly or bug. You got any bugs on you?" Madoka wasn't sure what she expected, but Shino just said yes and didn't offer any further explanation. How confusing.

"What type of spider?"

"What type of bug?"

Madoka's snorted after a good minute of staring at each other, daring the other to answer the question. Her instincts told her that Shino was laughing too, but she only saw a hint of a smile.

* * *

 **AN: A little something to take the edge off this holiday season. Disclaimers in the first chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

Madoka never knew what her mother looked like. Like any other baby, she didn't retain those early memories of being held in the arms of strangers or being cooed at by onlookers in hopes of gaining her attention.

Her father, however, described Niotomi Hima as a sweet, yet deadly flower. Hima's hair was cotton candy pink, like a girl in Madoka's class. Her deceased mother was known by most as the "Pink Flash" and was said to rival Namikazi Minato in terms of speed, but nothing else. She married into the clan and unlike the Niotomi, she preferred being loud and boisterous, but wasn't without her soft characteristics.

Madoka sometimes wondered if she'd ever live up to her mother's image. As an 8-year old in a hidden village, sometimes it felt like she'd never reach that level of speed.

The lonely father was the inspiration for Madoka to surpass her mother's image. He was a stone cold mountain when her mother had passed, but around Madoka, he was still an overprotective father who put her first before his own needs.

Every week, Madoka and Dai visited the KIA Stone. The tiny words depicted those who had fought valiantly for Konoha, yet still died sacrificing themselves for the village. Secretly, it sickened Madoka to hear that it was a goal to have one's name written here. It was an honor for the ninja, but a death wish for the informed (Niotomi).

"How'd she pass, Otou-san?" Madoka murmured, running her fingers across the inscription of her mother's name. She wasn't sure why, but her eyes always became entranced upon reading Niotomi Hima's name.

"She died protecting the village."

He always gave the same answer to the same question. Every year, Dai's daughter asked the same thing on the same date, just to see if he'd change the answer.

The white-haired shinobi standing besides Dai didn't comment, mainly because the trio visited the stone at the same time every week for eight years.

"That's what you always say, Otou-san." Madoka's patience had worn thin for three years. She wanted to know what happened. He always described her as some sort of hero, but what had she done to deserve that level of recognition from her father? And if she was a hero, why wasn't she alive? What happened to Niotomi Hima?

"You're welcome to stay here, but I've got to go to the office," Dai stated quickly, disappearing after his daughter muttered an 'Okay.' Ever since Dai had given his daughter those three Black Widows, he'd been able to leave her wherever, trusting her to find the way back home.

Stepping back from the stone, Madoka joined the white-haired ninja in staring at the rock. For as long as she'd seen him, Madoka had never heard his voice or his name, but Dai had ordered her not to talk to him. That had been two years ago though.

"What's your name?" She asked, glancing at the mask that hid everything but a dark eye with a faraway look in it.

Silence.

"That's okay." It wa silent again, but Madoka was a child, and children had to talk. "My name's Niotomi Madoka."

That earned her an unseen and curious glance.

She chanced a look at the mystery-nin once again before reaverting her gaze to the stone.

"Whose name is on the stone for you? My mom's name is there, see?" She pointed to the name, underlining it with a small finger. "Otou says she was a hero, but he'll never tell me how she passed."

She looked back to see him reading her mother's name and secretly, Madoka thought this was good, because she hadn't seen a shred of acknowledgement from the white-haired nin

"He says that the way they leave tells you everything. That's why I want to know how she... passed." Madoka wasn't looking at the shinobi anymore, but at the stone and all the names on it. Her imagination was at its peak with picturing how her mother passed away a hero.

"I know you aren't going to talk, but I think it's crazy how you listen. Otou says that you have two ears and one mouth because you've got to listen more than you speak."

Silence.

Accepting that he wasn't going to talk to her, Madoka sighed and let her thoughts tumble from her mouth.

"Even though the Academy is full of kids, I still feel lonely because..." Catching herself, Madoka but her tongue, forgetting to keep clan secrets. It was lonely because she'd been ordered not to talk to people, to disappear into the background, to prevent relationships from being formed.

"Do you have any friends?"

The mystery-nin's lone eye zeroed in on the young Madoka, studying her very closely, because nobody knew anything about the Niotomi and this could be the break they needed. She was still staring at the KIA Stone, brown eyes filled with loneliness and something else. Want? Need? He couldn't tell the difference in her eyes.

"Yes," he replied, deep voice breaking the silence. Madoka didn't show her shock at hearing his voice, simply because she was taught never to show reaction to anything.

"That's... neat."

"Why'd you ask?"

"You know, sometimes I want to talk to her." Changing the subject, Madoka nodded to the stone, "but I didn't really know her... but she's my mom... but I don't want to draw attenti... look silly."

She corrected herself, trying not to appear suspicious. With a quick look at the shinobi, she could tell by his narrowed eye that he'd caught her slip up.

 **Kakashi's Perspective:**

He just wanted to remember Obito and Rin. Was that too much to ask?

The strange clan members always arrived at the stone at 6:00 in the morning. Dai always stayed by him, but the girl always went out to feel her mother's name, weird.

It was a surprise to him when Dai just up and left his kid with him. He was not taking care of a Niotomi. He was ANBU and off duty too. He didn't deserve this.

"You've got you're whole life ahead of you and you don't want to make friends because it'll draw attention?" He was genuinely curious. How messed up was this clan to force her to think that way? Or was it just her father that taught her that?

Hearing a soft groan, he could tell that she wasn't supposed to tell him that. Maybe Dai had put his faith into the wrong kid.

"Yeah..." she replied, unsure of how to proceed. He noted the chakra consuming weights on her wrists and ankles and it brought on another question.

How long had she had those on? He'd seen them for three weeks on her, but never bothered to actually care. Now, it was a different matter.

"But you know, I'm not completely alone," she added, trying to make up for the mistake. "I made a friend last week, or at least I think he's my friend."

He didn't respond, letting her do all the talking. This was something of a treat, to gain information to see if he'd win the pot on the Niotomi.

"Alright, I'm leaving now," she warned. Wait, why'd she warn hi-

Where'd she go?


	6. Chapter 6

Besides gaining the attention of important people, there was another rule that the Niotomi followed religiously.

Don't monologue.

Don't tell the enemy anything about you. If the enemy chose to monologue, then it was a quick kill. One blow to the head, and you saved yourself heaps of time.

That's why the Niotomi had the highest confirmed kills in the whole village. They weren't flashy, or used tons of chakra: they simply killed the target quickly and traveled back home. Even if they weren't in the ANBU, most jounin or chuunin Niotomi were picked over anyone else to complete assassinations. Besides their red hair, they blended in. Along with that, since every single person in the clan trained with speed since they were 6, they were picked to go on the important missions, which they hated.

But nobody argued with the Hokage.

Madoka hated having to spar in the Academy. Today was the first time the 8-year olds would be sparring, and Iruka-sensei had encouraged everyone to try their hardest. They'd been introduced to the Academy forms for taijutsu and conditioning on the first day, so it wasn't exactly a surprise.

What did that mean though? Madoka could simply lay one of her arms on a kid and they'd topple over, because of the weight. It was now 20 pounds on each leg and each arm, and she wasn't sure what her father had meant when he said she'd get used to them. Despite them being wrapped tightly against her skin, it was still a nuisance to her concentration.

"Alright! I'm going to call out pairs for sparring!" Iruka-sensei exclaimed, holding a list up. Besides him, his assistant, Mizuki-sensei watched quietly. Madoka crossed her fingers and hoped to fight against a civilian.

"Uchiha Sasuke and Niotomi Madoka!"

It was about a year ago when the young girl had heard her father utter a word when he'd accidentally cut himself with a kunai. It was nasty, repulsive, and Dai had strictly ordered her not to say it, but felt right when she muttered it herself.

" _Fuck_."

Mizuki-sensei swiftly knocked the redhead on the back of her head. How he travelled from Iruka's side to her desk in 0.4 seconds was a mystery to the girl. Iruka ignored the outburst and kept calling off names.

"We do not curse, understand?" Mizuki-sensei said, frown etched on his face. Rubbing her head, Madoka glared at him, not caring if he was a teacher or not. That had hurt.

"Understand."

But not really, because the word sounded nasty and ugly at the same time and Madoka liked that. She liked ugly words and wondered if there were anymore she could say.

"Alright, that's all! Let's go outside!" Iruka announced, beckoning the kids to the door.

Madoka made a move to get up, but was shoved back into her seat by another girl.

"Don't even think about beating Sasuke-kun. He's way better than you, got that, Freak?" Her loud blue hair swayed as she talked, and Madoka wondered if she'd miss it if it was suddenly chopped off. Her voice was higher when she talked about the Uchiha, Madoka noted.

"Got it," she replied, but that wasn't what she had wanted to say. She envisioned herself saying "Fuck you," to the girl. Kami knows it would've drawn lots of attention.

Outside, the kids gathered around a big circle of dirt that was outlined in white.

"Sasuke! Madoka! Step in the circle. Taijutsu only."

The Uchiha sauntered in the dirt, a smirk already on his face. Madoka joined him, but her face was blank and deviant of any emotion. Just like she'd been taught.

"Are you both ready?" Iruka-sensei asked. Silently, the girl thought that this wasn't a very realistic fight, seeing as the instructor had asked if they were ready. Seeing the Uchiha nod, Madoka also nodded.

"Freak."

"Redhead."

"Who does she think she is?"

"Why do you think she's so confident?"

The background chatter came to a halt when Iruka-sensei yelled, "Begin!"

"You might as well give up," the Uchiha taunted, his stupid face smirking. Madoka wondered what kind of house he'd grown up in to contain this type of confidence. Seeing as he was the Clan Head's second son, it was probably an expected attribute, but one could never be too careful in assumptions.

"What the hell is that?!" Madoka suddenly shrieked, pointing to a nonexistent entity behind Sasuke. Of course, he looked, head whipping around to spot what she was talking about. Iruka fell for it too, as did most of the class that had circled around them, but Mizuki's eyes stayed trained on the fighters.

The fight was over before it had begun. Faster than a slingshot, Madoka was off, tearing the dirt up as she sprinted to the oblivious Sasuke. Knowing that she was faster than most, she made sure to not underestimate the Uchiha, as they possessed the Sharingan.

As Sasuke's head turned back to face the Niotomi, it snapped to the side as she punched him. Not only was she training with her father on fighting, but she had 20 extra pounds behind that punch, and Madoka considered it something of a miracle that the boy's cheekbone didn't shatter upon impact.

He spun around twice on one foot, and like a cartoon, fell into the dirt. When the dust settled, Iruka's eyes narrowed at the sight of a whimpering Uchiha on the ground and an emotionless Niotomi standing above him.

"The fight is over. Niotomi Madoka has won."

Stepping out of the dirt ring, her head was zipping with consequences. She guessed that it wasn't going to be good news when she went home. She wouldn't be able to hide the victory from her father. What had possessed her to do something so attention-getting as knocking out an Uchiha heir?

As Iruka announced the next match, Sasuke slowly got to his feet and left the training area, accompanied by Mizuki, who took the boy back inside to check for any inner bleeding.

This was not good, not good at all.

Maybe she could run away? Oh, now that sounded nice. But that would only bring more attention to herself. Why hadn't she just given the Uchiha the win? She hadn't expected him to be so slow.

Along with angry looks from the girls of the class, some of the boys were looking at her in a new light, but she didn't care.

How would she hide this from her father? It would start an all out war within the Niotomi if anyone found out that she had bested an Uchiha. Or maybe she was just exaggerating it?

 **Uchiha Fugaku's Perspective:**

Sitting down at the dinner table, Fugaku patiently waited for the rest of the family to sit down. Itachi, his first born, sat on his left, and Mikoto, his wife, on his right. It was the third week off that Itachi had before having to resume his ANBU schedule and he'd chosen to devote that time to family.

Just as he was about to ask where his second born was, Sasuke entered the room, keeping the right side of his body hidden. Inching to the chair next to his mother, he sat down.

Being the Head of the Uchiha, Fugaku was not a fool. He'd defeated several enemies that were bigger and stronger with him before. Kami help him if his second born thought he was going to get away with keeping secrets.

Before he spoke, he noticed that Itachi was staring intently at something on the side of Sasuke's face, the side he couldn't see. His brow was creased with something akin to worry, which alarmed Fugaku. Itachi normally didn't worry and Sasuke normally wasn't silent during dinner time.

"Sasuke, come here," he ordered. Said son took a deep breath and exhaled before making a move to his father. Passing his mother, while keeping his right side hidden from his father, Sasuke winced when he heard Mikoto gasp. Fugaku waited patiently, but his curiosity grew on what was wrong with Sasuke.

As Sasuke stood before his father, Fugaku wondered what made him think he was alright with just seeing the left half of him.

"Yes, Father?"

Patience gone, Fugaku snatched Sasuke's chin and turned his head sharply to the right. Eyes widening, Fugaku's sharp eyes took in every detail.

There, plastered onto his second born's cheek, was the deepest, ugliest bruise he'd ever seen and he'd seen some nasty bruises. Highlighting his cheekbone was a thick, dark red line of damaged skin, and around it, was a large black patch of irritated skin. It covered the skin from Sasuke's right eyebrow to just below his cheekbone.

" _What happened?_ " Fugaku asked quietly, wanting answers very quickly.


	7. Chapter 7

Madoka carefully waited for the right moment. Her father was lifting the glass to his lips. If she broke the news to him while he was drinking, it'd make for a funny scene and comedy always broke tension.

"I beat up Uchiha Sasuke today."

Dai spit out his drink and started pounding his chest, all while hacking up water. His daughter cracked up in laughter. The spiders in her hair were at her hairline, catching a rare glimpse at Dai getting caught off guard. While all the spiders followed orders from all Niotomi, Dai was known as a tyrant throughout the arachnid kingdom. Well feared, too.

"You... you what?!" He exclaimed, choking on water.

"I beat up an Uchiha and was waiting for the right moment to tell you." Dai sent her a deadpanned look.

"You think it's great to tell me that as I was drinking water?"

"Why not?" She joked. It was rare for anyone to see a Niotomi cracking jokes, but around their own, they acted normal.

Dai sat back in his chair, forgetting the dinner for a couple of moments. Madoka took the opportunity to shovel steamed broccoli into her mouth, as it was her favorite. She suspected whatever to come wasn't going to be pleasant.

"Well, he's probably going to want a rematch."

"Why?"

"Uchiha are always the same."

"Ah."

"So... how'd you do it? I probably wasn't easy, was it?" Dai pressed, slightly curious for as to how his daughter managed an Uchiha.

"I yelled, 'What the hell is that?!' And then he looked back to where I was pointing. Then, I sprinted at him and punched him."

Madoka rolled her eyes as her own father fell out of his chair from laughter. His laugh had downgraded to mere squeaks, and it was hard for him to catch his breath, despite being a shinobi. One of the Camel spiders that had been lounging in the kitchen crawled in, cautiously poking Dai with one of its appendages. The spiders of the house hadn't ever heard Dai laugh that hard, thus bringing on concern.

"I'm up, I'm up," he waved off, slowly making his way to his feet. The Camel spider stalked off, twitching it's pinchers.

"Otou, what am I gonna do?" Wiping his eyes of any tears, Dai narrowed his focus.

"You should probably let him win. Don't throw any punches, don't knock him off balance. Got it?"

"Makes sense."

Later that night, Madoka had a fight with a colony of Bagheera Kiplingi.

"You guys can't just set up shop in the bathroom," she tried to explain. The biggest Kiplingi's eyes shifted to the second biggest, and with ruffled grunts and animated pincher movement, it appeared as if they came to an agreement.

Turning to the rest of the colony, which consisted of about 20 or so other Kiplingi, the leader gave out some sort of order, though Madoka didn't understand it. She'd been around spiders long enough to pick up on their body language and what they were doing, but not what they were saying.

The spiders crawled over to some mold that had been growing in the shower for who knows how long. Then, they began chewing on it. The leader turned to Madoka, and with one carefully moved leg, it pointed to the feeding colony.

"That's no reason for you guys to live in my shower, hey... uh... one of the Widows in my hair, stand on my hand." Lifting her hand to her hairline, she patiently waited for one of them to crawl onto her palm. Bringing it down where she could see it, she distinctly remembered that these species aren't supposed to mix. Even though the Niotomi had some control over the whole arachnid kingdom, they didn't have control over how they behaved, as some species of spiders included eating another species.

This was a prime example of terrible timing and as Madoka was a young girl, not all spiders listened to her. The power to control spiders was greater in the Head Branch of the clan, while the other members only had access to not being bitten by the arachnids. Others, like her father, had earned the spiders respect and she was in the process of following his example.

The lead Bagheera Kiplingi also realized this, but instead of tensing up, as Madoka had, he hissed out a warning to the rest of the colony. The Black Widow in her palm quickly moved to jump off her hand, as Madoka wasn't very tall, but she quickly cupped her other hand over the spider, forming a sphere of human flesh around the agitated Widow. As no spider was to bite a Niotomi, the Widow couldn't do anything but crawl around in the sphere and rub its pitchers together.

The other Widows heard the frustration of their sister, but both chose wisely not to follow her example. Instead, they burrowed deep into Madoka's hair, trying to ignore their need to feed. The one in her hand was the replacement Widow and hadn't learned control yet, as she was quite young.

"Now, finish off the mold and leave, please. I've got to take a shower." Even though they were the size of her pinky nail, Madoka didn't want them to die by drowning. "And, I'm sorry about the Black Widow. They normally don't do this."

The leader didn't give any sort of acknowledgement to her, but chose to join his colony in consuming the mold.

Leaving the bathroom, she sat on her bed and waited. Opening her palms, she greeted the Black Widow inside, silently hoping that it wasn't still hungry.

"I'm sorry." It was a dumb mistake, a careless one. She'd been taught the different species through picture books as a kid and was still educated about them, as new species were found.

Now, she had to worry about how she was going to deal with the Uchiha.


	8. Chapter 8

The sun rose far too quickly for Madoka's liking. She'd been up since 1:00 in the morning trying to devise a way to keep the Black Widows that permanently resided in her hair from eating the Bagheera Kiplingi colony that decided her shower was an amazing home. The Kiplingi had discovered mold growing in the walls, so they were now staying.

As for the Black Widows, well Madoka just put them outside after trying and failing to get them to listen to her. Even the mature Widows had grown too hungry to ignore their need to eat.

Now she was calmly walking down the dirt road to the Academy. She saw other kids on her way but made sure to avoid them, as she didn't want to be the Niotomi to break the rules. They were all too loud, too noisy, and too cheerful. She wasn't sure what possessed them to have so much energy at 7:47 a.m.

And the looks. Ugh, how obvious could one be? A girl with pink hair was probably doomed to a life of interesting things, Madoka thought, just judging everything off of her hair. And her friend, the blonde. Long hair and bright blue eyes were a telltale sign of an attention-getter, something she hated.

They were both in front of her, thank Kami, as she didn't want to be forced to get to know them. She knew that the blonde often stuck up for the pinkette, so would she want to make friends with Madoka? After all, that's how she had observed the situation, after the blonde backtalked a couple of bullies just to divert attention from the pink-headed girl.

Sure, it'd be nice to have friends, but not with a couple of attention-getters.

The Black Widows within her red mane bristled at the site of the Aburame boy, who appeared from a side street, walking to the Academy too. Something about him seemed to set them off, something about bugs? Madoka wasn't sure, but she was sure of this: if she thought of him as the Aburame boy and not as Shino, it'd be easier to grow distant to him. In fact, now that she thought about it, that might be a great way to grow distant to everyone else.

The weights on her appendages reminded her of the fight yesterday with the Uchiha, and everything came crashing down. There would definitely be consequences if she got infatuated with him even more, consequences that affected her future as a Niotomi.

The Nara and Akimichi kids appeared on her right, and suddenly it wasn't just a coincidence that there were 5 clan kids on the same road. Maybe it was fate, or the stars, or maybe the fact that she'd been forced to take a shower in her father's bathroom this morning because of the colony of Bagheera Kiplingi, but Madoka hated her current position.

"Morning," the Nara greeted, sleep still evident in his eyes. The Akimichi silently munched on chips, probably salted. She'd drawn this conclusion from the salted chips left behind on his desk yesterday as they were beginning to spar.

"Morning," she quickly returned, avoiding eye contact. They were headed to the same place, so it was probably considered weird if she made eye contact.

"You... seem chipper," he commented, lazily drawing out a yawn mid-sentence.

"I got up early." She added a yawn for affect, and because she had to yawn.

"Yuck, why?" The Akimichi added. Madoka secretly wanted to coil up and die. Why, out of the 30 kids in their class, had they chosen her to talk to? Why not the blonde and pinkette? Why not the Aburame boy?

"I like to shower in the mornings." And a colony of vegetarian spiders set up shop in my shower, so now I can't use it until they eat all the mold that grows there. But she didn't say that.

It would attract attention.

239 paces later, and Madoka didn't even make it into the Academy before she was stopped by the Uchiha kid and some... other kid.

"Hey, you!" The Uchiha boy exclaimed, now sporting a bruise-free face.

"Uh... yeah?" Madoka responded, yawning a little. She really had gotten up way too early, but upon inspecting his daughter in the morning, Dai had ordered her to shower in his bathroom. Normally, it took her a good three minutes to roll out of bed and after that, four minutes trying to tame her hair with a tiny brush. Then, 20 minutes getting ready and eating a cold breakfast breakfast left out by her father, as he left for work an hour before the Academy started: 8:00 a.m. Usually she forgot to slip on her ninja sandals, so that took another minute or so.

"I want a rematch!" She winced, as vocal levels weren't meant to be this boisterous in the morning.

"Sure, okay, whatever. When and where?" Yawning again, she wondered how many hours of sleep she'd gotten last night. Not her regulars, that's for sure.

The Uchiha kid looked a little stunned, as if he wasn't prepared for her to agree so quickly. The other one, the one with long black hair, just stood there, like a fucking statue.

Oh Kami, she was _tired_.

"After school, in training ground 22."

"Where the fuck's that?"

"Hey, you're not supposed to curse!" Madoka remained silent, gradually becoming irritated at this kid's energy. She didn't care if it was a curse, it made her feel relieved when she said it, as it was a nasty and ugly word. It... alleviated pressure from the stress of her life. She was forced to walk by two clan kids, she was running on little sleep, and now some idiot had challenged her, as if one beating wasn't enough for him. If she were in the right mind, she'd actually be wondering where all this confidence had come from.

"Where is it?"

"How about we show you after the Academy? You can accompany us," the other kid replied, stepping in for the young Uchiha.

"Who're you?"

"Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke-kun's older brother." Maybe it was the cheerful way he'd said that, or the fact that for a teenager, he already had long stress lines down his face, but Madoka got a bad reading off this guy, even if he was an Uchiha.

"Cool. Class is about to start, so I'll see you guys after."

 **Itachi's Perspective:**

He wasn't sure why, but Sasuke had asked him to tag along. Was it a confidence booster, having a brother that was an ANBU Captain at your side while you rematched someone? Maybe.

At first glance, Itachi couldn't actually see why or how the girl had been able to land such a hit on his little brother. As he suspected, upon closer inspection, the girl doned four weights on her arms and legs. Her hair gave off three tiny, but not unrecognizable, chakra signatures which was definitely not new to the older Uchiha.

He'd worked with two other Niotomi in ANBU, both of which were still alive today. Upon further questioning from the Hokage as to how they were so fast, they shrugged, pointed at their weights, and let that do the talking. Of course, no clan was without their secrets, as the first thing Itachi had noticed about them were multiple tiny, chakra signatures on them, like the girl before him.

He'd found out what those signatures were when they'd faced a warlord from the Land of Waves. The battle didn't last quickly, even though the warlord had hired A-Classed missing-nin to protect him. His teammates had actually kept up with him, which was something of a shock to Itachi, considering they were both wearing very heavy weights. In battle, they both produced webs and webs of chakra wire, followed by their own individual weapons.

One of the weapons was a kusari fundo. It was a chain with two weights on either end which made for efficient killing blows. Also, it was small enough to be concealed on the ninja, as his colleague had demonstrated when they confronted the warlord.

The other weapon was a small, but deadly sai. Basically a sword, the sai had two extensions between the pointy sharp edge in the middle of the weapon. One of the Niotomi had brandished this while the warlord had been talking about taking over the Land of Waves. Itachi was fine with letting him talk, as he wasn't in any hurry to kill the man, but his colleagues had other ideas.

There had been 6 missing-nin, four A-Class, and two B-Class. While the warlord had been talking, Itachi had picked up on the sign language going on between the two. He read that they were planning a distraction, and signed back that he acknowledged it. As ANBU Captain, he was expected to be leader, but it was always welcome to let someone else take the reigns for a while. As long as the job got done, all three were paid the same.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Everyone's attention was drawn to the treeline, where another ninja had appeared. He had flaming orange hair, and wore a blue outfit. On his back, was a long katana. Activating his Sharingan, Itachi realized it was just a disguised shadow clone produced by one of the Niotomi with him.

"Get lost," one of the B-Class nin ordered. The illusion's smile stretched far too wide, leaving a maddening effect on his distraught face. The Niotomi wearing the Lion mask had revealed a sai in the little time the illusion had bought. Of course, Itachi had complete confidence in his skills, so he wasn't particularly worried about dying, but his teammates appeared worried for some reason, as if they could actually die in this situation.

The Niotomi wearing the Whale mask launched a well aimed kunai at the B-Class nin that had foolishly spoken. It buried itself into the side of his neck, effectively cutting off air circulation.

"Hey! You bastar-!" Another kunai embedded itself into the other B-Class nin, launching him to the side as his head now brandished a two-inch hole in the side of it. Both were down for the count.

The rest of the missing-nin wasted no time in trying to dispatch Lion and Whale and the newcomer, which was the illusion, while Crow silently disappeared into the trees. The warlord didn't look particularly pleased.

They dispatched the missing-nin and warlord in the same time it took Itachi to get ready in the mornings. Sealing away the head's of the missing-nin, Lion nodded to Whale, as if reassuring that they were all right.

It wasn't often that Itachi handed out compliments, but they were on a whole new level compared to some of the other ANBU.

" _Good work._ "


	9. Chapter 9

If there was one thing Madoka knew, it was that she was a messy eater. But who cared? She wasn't looking to marry anyone with her charming lady skills, so why bother trying to be neat at all?

Her father always packed her a bento filled to the brim with hot seafood. Scallops, shrimp, squid, sushi, fish fillets; you name it, Madoka had it. It was always accompanied by a large amount of white rice, and that was accompanied by exactly four packets of soy sauce every single day. Dai was always hopeful that his daughter would one day use the chopsticks he added to her lunch, but she hadn't picked up a pair of chopsticks since she was three.

Tearing into the scallops with a spoon of all things, Madoka wondered if there was another utensil besides a spoon or knife or even fucking chopsticks that she could use.

For some reason, she was always so ravenous. Hunger never seemed to leave the young 8-year old, and no matter how much she ate, she couldn't seem to gain weight. She was forever stuck at 48 pounds.

Biting into the shrimp, Madoka cheerfully wondered as to how eating food could be so pleasant. The shrimp was chewy, but that's the way she liked it. Her teeth were proabably warm, from how steamy hot the shrimp was.

Of course, this was the lunch break, and Iruka-sensei had taken her book already. So she was forced to enjoy the 20 minutes of rest by trying to imitate a professional food taster, and not worry about the fight after school.

What was she going to do?

1\. Fake being sick.

2\. Don't show.

3\. Let him win.

4\. Run away and become a missing-nin for the rest of her life.

5\. Start a life in gambling.

6\. Run away and become a hooker.

There was a lot of things she could do, but Options 5 and 6 were probably the most interesting so far. In fact, Madoka didn't even know what a hooker was; she'd heard it from some male Niotomi one day. They said that hookers got paid a lot, so maybe it wasn't a bad bet. She wasn't sure if her father would allow her to run away, so she had to start a life of gambling. It was decided. Of course, being the boring Niotomi she was, she probably ought to do Option 3 and move on with her life.

Finishing off her lunch, she figured that she had a couple of minutes before Iruka-sensei brought them back inside to continue the lesson.

Snatching her bento, she sauntered her way over to the Aburame boy, mind set on a decision. He was sitting under a tree, minding his own business, alone.

Of course, Madoka wasn't about to run away to a life of gambling alone, as she had to have a partner in crime.

"Shino, it's now or never."

"... What?" His response was slow, much too slow for Madoka's liking. Glancing this way and that, she hadn't spotted Iruka yet. Good.

"Do you want to go on an adventure?"

"... right now?"

"Yeah. The Academy is super boring, and I figured we could leave and go do something more exciting."

Now, she wasn't sure the inner workings of Shino's mind, but for some reason, she had an itch that he'd say yes to her far-fetched plan.

"And-" she added, remembering a great point about this, "we get to make lots of money doing it."

In the back of her mind, a lonely voice whispered that this wasn't right; this wasn't the way of the Niotomi, but Madoka ignored that voice, because this plan was actually the Niotomi way. She'd avoid a direct confrontation with the Uchiha kid, and secretly enter a life of gambling.

"You in?" She questioned, eyes widening at Iruka-sensei opening the door that led outside.

"... yes."

However shocked she was that the introvert of the class had just agreed at skipping school, she had to ignore that and shove Shino behind the tree, because Iruka had almost seen them.

"We're leaving now?"

"Yes, now wait for it..." she cautiously observed Iruka and when his back was turned, she signaled to Shino that they needed to leave, now.

Hauling butt away from the Academy, the pair didn't stop until they were a block away from the school.

"What's the adventure?" Shino asked, breathing lightly from the sprint.

"We're going to gamble."

* * *

 **AN: I know, I know, it's been a while. Many of you might be unfollowing this story right now, due to its sheer stupidity and hilarity. Don't do that, okay? Review, tell me what y'all think about it. I know the chapters short, but it's a gateway to new chapters.**


	10. Chapter 10

"It won't be long before Iruka-sensei knows we're gone," she puffed, sitting next to Shino. They had taken shelter from grown-ups in a tree, of all places.

"Why're we doing this?" Her partner in crime asked, leaning against a branch.

"Because we need to get money, Shino! I've heard it's lots of fun."

"From _who_?" Madoka stuttered her answer, unsure of how to lie herself out of this one.

"Uh... um... my dad."

"You're lying."

"How'd ya know that?"

True, while this wasn't how Madoka normally acted, it was nice to actually do something with a friend, even if that friend was just as withdrawn as her. Unknown to both of them, they were being watched.

 **The Third Hokage's office:**

Hiruzen Sarutobi observed the children with a reminiscent look in his aged eyes. He remembered the trouble he'd gotten into when he was a child, and could see it in these two as bright as day. He was glad he'd gotten the glass ball that showed where everyone was.

The bright redhead was the mastermind behind the plan. Along with an amusing source of entertainment, this also provided some insight to the Niotomi clan. He'd been informed of some sort of assault on Fugaku's youngest, but he'd never expected it to be a Niotomi.

In fact, he'd never heard of such an instance until now. During all his years as Hokage, Hiruzen hadn't had any incidents with the Niotomi clan.

So, for the young girl to insist on skipping the Academy, it was something of a breakthrough in the Professor's research on the clan. Or, it could be the inexplicable, and she just wanted to skip school.

He'd just have to sit and watch.

 **Madoka's Perspective:**

"Say, Shino..."

"Hmm...?" They were both growing tired of sitting in the tree, but both didn't have a problem with it, so they'd stayed in complete silence till now.

"How do you propose we go about gambling?"

"I haven't the slightest clue."

"Say, why do you suppose we're both speaking very formal?"

"I haven't the slightest clue."

Maybe both children wanted to sound grown-up, or maybe both had read lots of books regarding the topic, but they seemed as though they were content with their speaking patterns, and continued on with the patterns.

"Maybe we ought to find a place where people gamble?" She suggested, nudging his shoulder with a foot. Shino allowed this, simply because she was his first friend and vice versa.

Maybe this was how they communicated so fluently to each other as well. Maybe the two introverts had become intertwined in each other's life?

Nah, that sounded stupid, Madoka decided. Too cliche.

"I know where people gamble," Shino added, lost in similar thoughts.

"Where?"

"I believe it's called a saloon."

"Shino..."

"Yes?"

"What the fuck's a saloon?"

"I'm unsure. I read about it one of my father's old books. I believe it is where people go to auction off their ryo?"

"..."

What a revelation, Madoka thought. If they could find a 'saloon,' then they'd be golden. Wait...

"Shino, do you have any ryo?"

"No, do you?"

" _Fuck_."

 **Aburame Shibi's Perspective:**

The Clan Head of the Aburame didn't know what to think when he opened his door to two very different kids. One of them was his son, Shino, and the other was a redhead with messy hair that nearly rivaled Shibi's own locks.

Neither father, nor son spoke to the other, opting to stare at each other with some sort of silent communication. The redhead coughed, twice, before interjecting herself inbetween the pair.

"Hi, Aburame-sama, is it?" She only got a slow nod for an answer.

"Well, I'm Niotomi Madoka, nice to meet you." It made her nervous when he didn't reply to her for a while, and then...

"Why aren't you two in the Academy?"

"Father, we require..." Shino tilted his head to own side, as if puzzled, then glanced to his companion, "how much ryo?"

"11,500." Shino's eyes went wide behind his spectacles, as did his father's.

"Oh, 11,500 ryo," Shino finished, glancing back to his father. That was a lot of ryo.

"Do you..." Shino racked his brain for answers, "Would you please lend us 11,500 ryo?"

Shibi knew childhood innocence when he saw it and this was...

 _Adorable_.

"Can I have a reason as to why I ought to lend you this money?"

 **Madoka's Perspective:**

Her father had taught her that the one thing that didn't abide by any rules was a person's conscience. Now, she wasn't sure what hat meant, but she knew what rules were, and so far, she knew how to break them. How would she proceed though?

"Abur-"

"Father, please give us half of what we've asked. We'll repay you." Her head snapped to her partner in crime with shock. She didn't know Shino was so... forward. In fact, Madoka wasn't too sure she'd ever be able to say that to someone; after all, this was her first friend, and her first time breaking rules. But it was Shino's too, so how had he been so straightforward?

After being taught how to read people, after being taught never to show emotion, the Niotomi was doubting herself for the first time in her existence. Why couldn't she move? Why couldn't she speak? Why were her thoughts running wild with the notations that her clan would forever exclude her for making a friend? What had that white-haired nin said?

 _"You've got your whole life ahead of you."_

He was right. He was right.

He was _right_.

She had her whole life ahead of her, so why couldn't she make a friend? It didn't really matter if there was only one, because she'd read in a book that all you needed was a friend to rely on and a daddy's shoulder to cry on.

"Why are you still standing there?" Turning, she spotted Shino a couple of paces behind her, eyebrow raised in confusion. If she squinted, she'd spot a stray bug on his shoulder, watching the conversation with innocent interest.

"What...?"

"We got the money, now let's find a saloon."

She was about to say something when she realized that she'd been caught up in her own thoughts. The door was closed, and there wasn't any going back.

The duo stalked off in search of a saloon, unaware of the father behind the door, almost in tears from the sheer innocence of children.


	11. Chapter 11

"Shino, we need a fucking plan."

"Agreed."

In front of them, a sign read " _No Minors Allowed_." They'd found a saloon, but it turns out it was actually called a 'bar.' After asking a hobo off the street, they were here, and weren't allowed in.

They had found their way into a district of Konoha littered with red lights. It had grown women on the streets, dressed in such scandalous clothes, that Madoka wondered if it was even legal. The street was littered with passed out hobos, trash, and bright signs. In fact, they had gathered quite a few stares from the strange people, but no one ever talked to them.

Unknown to them, they were being watched by a pair of beady, black eyes from one of the dark and dirty alleyways.

The sun was going down, and in an hour or two, Shino and Madoka knew their parents would be looking for the pair. If they were caught in such a place... in the dark, no less, they'd be in huge trouble...

Probably.

Madoka's head whirled with ideas. If they weren't back soon, suspicions would arise and she hated being suspicious. She'd also missed the fight with the Uchiha kid, so if she went to the Academy tomorrow, she'd surely be questioned. Not to mention that creepy brother of his, the one with the long hair.

"Okay, you said you had bugs on you, right?"

"Something akin to that, yes... Where are you going with this?" Thin red eyebrows furrowed in thought, and she turned her large brown orbs to the trench-coat wearing Shino.

"Can you control them? I can sort of control the spiders." After a long moment's hesitation, Shino nodded his head.

"Alright, so... um... think of ways to disguise ourselves to get in there," she commented slowly, pointing at the bar. What a weird name... it was so different from saloon.

"Okay... so where do you want to meet tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow...?" Madoka rolled her eyes, hating how slow Shino was.

"Yes, Shino, _tomorrow_. If we don't go home tonight, we'll be in trouble. This might become a, uh... a long-term adventure," Madoka paused, trying to think of something to convince Shino they needed more time, "but it'll all be worth it when we get the ryo."

"How about a sleepover?" Shino asked, feeling rather proud of himself for thinking of that, "If we had one tonight, we could think of a plan."

Madoka had to admit, it was a genius idea, and hated herself for not thinking of it sooner. The spiders intermixed in her hair squirmed with anticipation, or with something Madoka didn't know. What she did know, was that someone was watching them, like the feeling she'd gotten in the woods after training, but lots of people were staring at them, so she let it go for now.

After milling over who's house was closest, they eventually decided on Shino's house. It was late, and the sun had just kissed the horizon when they started the journey to the Aburame clan compound. On their way out of the strange district, they observed and commented on the new things they saw, such as the pretty women, hobos, and the trash.

After they were clear of the district, the duo remained silent, preferring to take in the wonders of the late day. The sun had changed from a bright yellow, to a deep orange, which Madoka thought was the prettiest thing. If there was one sight in the world she loved watching, it was the sunset.

"You ever think anyone'll ever recreate that color?" Madoka asked, pointing to the lowering sun. Shino mulled over it for a second before answering.

"No."

"Me too..."

One hour later and Madoka and Shino were sitting in Shino's living room. Shibi said he'd inform Dai that Madoka was staying over after Madoka said he wouldn't care... that much. He'd delivered her some pajamas and clothes for the next day, along with a packed bento for the Academy, which the two had planned on skipping anyway. Before he left, he had also collected her Black Widows, stating that they wouldn't be able to control themselves in the Aburame clan compound, which Madoka didn't understand at all. Sure, Shino had said he had bugs on him, and her spiders couldn't really control themselves around bugs, but how many did Shino have on him anyway?

"Hey, Shino."

"Yeah?"

"You know in those books, where the friends make a pact or whatever...?" Madoka muttered, looking at her feet. This was so cheesy.

"Like a blood pact or a verbal pact?"

"Yeah... you wanna do one?"

"What should it be about?" Madoka glanced at her friend, glad that he'd actually make a pact with her.

"Do you know any official pacts? Like, any clan related ones that would be awesome?"

"I-"

"Are you kids hungry?" Shibi asked, popping in from the kitchen. It was strange, seeing a clan head holding a tray of cookies and wearing an apron with gloves to complete the ensemble.

Madoka wasn't sure what Shino was waiting for, after all, she'd heard his stomach rumble 5 minutes ago. Finally, she answered.

"Yes, Aburame-sama, thank you!" The older Aburame put the tray on the living room table.

"If you all need anything, do not hesitate to come get me. Shino, you know where to find me." With that, Shino and Madoka were alone.

"So, do ya know any pacts? If not, we can make one up," Madoka resumed, munching on a chocolate chip cookie, and glancing at Shino's pj's. They were long pants and a long sleeved shirt, like her's, but instead of bright red, Shino's were dark green, with a pattern of strange bugs on it. Before they had set up the futons in the living room, (Shino's dad had insisted, not wanting Dai to get mad at him for letting Shino and Madoka sleep in the same bed) they had both taken showers, as Shibi had smelled cigarette smoke on both the children. When he asked why they smelled like that, they just said they walked through an alleyway with smokers in it to get home.

He bought it.

"Since my father is the Clan Head, he stores important scrolls in his office area. I believe one of them might be an official blood pact."

"Let's go," Madoka whispered, as to not disturb Shino's dad. She was smart enough to realize that he probably wouldn't let them make an official pact if he knew what they were doing. Shino was also wise, and whispered as well.

Following Shino's example, Madoka grabbed a blanket from a basket in the corner and draped it around her shoulders, mimicking the Hokage's white cape, but her's was blue and Shino's was black. His house was dark, quiet and a little spooky in the night, but the Niotomi stayed right behind the Aburame, not letting more than 6 inches in between them. Madoka was so caught up in examining spooky corners, that she bumped into Shino, who had stopped in front of a set of oak doors.

"We're here." Slowly grabbing the handle, Shino was extra careful to be quiet, but he couldn't prevent the loud squeaks from the doors hinges. The pair cringed at the noise, but Shino's dad still hadn't appeared, so it was okay.

"Okay, so, I think the scrolls have pictures on them and we haveta find the one with two people on it," Shino whispered to the girl, nodding towards a shelf next to the large oak desk. It was packed with scrolls of all sorts, old and new, but unlike the scrolls Madoka had seen with her dad, these had pictures taped to the ends of them.

"My dad put pictures on them 'cause he was sick of having to unroll the scroll just to see what was in it," Shino explained when Madoka had pointed to a random picture.

It didn't take very long to find the scroll, as it had a poorly drawn stick figure man and woman on it, holding hands. For some reason that neither of them could explain, the woman was wearing a white dress and the man was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and long black pants.

"Why're they wearing that stuff?" Madoka asked, examining the white dress with distaste.

"Maybe they don't know that Konoha's really hot?" Shino answered, unable to come up with a theory of his own. The two 8-year olds quickly scanned the shelf for any more scrolls with two people on it, but this was the only one.

Unrolling the scroll, Shino was careful in how he handled it. One rip and his father would have his hide. Madoka noted the frayed ends of the scroll and the ancient color it had, realizing that this thing was fucking old, which is what the duo wanted. They wanted a genuine blood pact, like the kids in the books.

Setting it on the floor, the two huddled around it, wrapping their blankets tighter around them. At the top, it had the kanji for 'pact,' which was good, but before that, there was a faded kanji that they couldn't make out.

"It probably says blood."

"Probably," Madoka assured. Reading the instructions, it said that both of them had to drip some of their blood in a small circle at the bottom of the scroll. Strangely enough, that was the only step and it was the only thing written on the scroll that wasn't faded with time.

"I'm going to go get a knife," Shino stated, since this was his house and he knew where everything was.

Hearing Shino's feet patter down the hall, Madoka took some time to observe the office. It was illuminated by the moonlight outside through a window. There were tons of scrolls lined up and down the walls. Some of them were hanging, unrolled on the walls, and some of them were in glass display cases. Tiptoeing over to the shelf they had searched, she noticed some interesting pictures. For some reason, there were tons of bugs on those pictures.

Hearing a whisper yell from the kitchen, Madoka wondered what the fuck Shino was doing, but then she heard a loud clang.

 _Oops_.

 **Aburame Shibi's Perspective:**

He was fast asleep when he heard a loud noise from the kitchen. Groggily opening his eyes, he stumbled out of bed and lazily grabbed a spare kunai that had been laying on his night table.

"Shino, are you awake?" He asked aloud, not yet leaving his room. If he left the room, he would actually be awake and unable to fall asleep again. After a moment, he was given an answer.

"Uh, yeah, sorry!" He heard his son whisper outside his door, "won't happen again."

"Alright, kiddo. I'm trusting you."

With a yawn, Shibi plopped back down into his bed, snoring before he hit the mattress, and without a care in the world as to what the kids were doing.

 **Madoka's Perspective:**

"What the fuck took so long?" She questioned with a whisper, holding her blanket tight. Shino quietly shut the door behind him, before slipping out a rather sharp looking knife from in his blanket.

"I accidentally dropped the knife and thought that I'd cut myself."

"Oh... well, I'm glad you're okay. Did your dad wake up?"

"Yeah, but I lied to him." Without hesitation, Shino carefully sliced the palm of his hand, letting the blood drip into the circle before him.

"Geez..." Madoka muttered, eyeing the knife, "that hurt?"

"You try." Handing her the knife by the handle, Madoka noted that Shino was wrapping his blanket around his now bleeding hand and holding it tightly.

Drawing the blade across her palm she bit her bottom lip to stop herself from wincing. This was actually the first time Madoka had ever seen her own blood, and it was strange. Carefully letting the blood drip into the circle, the drops landed on Shino's drying blood. Following his example, she wrapped her hand with her blanket as well.

"Now what?" Shino whispered, peering at the circle within the scroll.

"Maybe we did it wro-"

Suddenly, the circle started glowing, it started off as a dim yellow to a bright white hat rivaled the sun itself. Both kids took shelter from the light behind their blankets.

Then, Madoka felt something. It was like a shift, a _click_ , if you will. Yes... something had _clicked_ within her. It had something to do with Shino, but what? Had the blood pact worked?

Peeking out from the blanket, she saw that the scroll had stopped glowing. In fact, the blood was gone, and it looked just as old as before.

The doors to the study slammed open, startling both 8-year olds to the point of almost having a heart attack. Both let out a startled yelp of surprise, but quickly realized they had been caught by none other than Aburame Shibi.

Madoka could tell that he wanted answers pretty quick, but all she could do was point to the scroll on the ground. Shino just nodded at it, as if the scroll would verbally explain the situation. Shibi layed the kunai in his hand on his oak desk and kneeled down to examine what the scroll was. Upon further observation, Madoka learned a new cuss word that day; one that sounded just as hairy and nasty as the word 'fuck.'

" ** _Shit_**."


	12. Chapter 12

**Niotomi Dai's Perspective:**

His daughter had been delivered to him very early in the morning. At the time, Shibi seemed nervous. In fact, Dai could feel the nervousness radiate off him in waves. His entire body language gave him away: glancing at the shoes, averting eye contact, coughing.

"What did Madoka do?" Dai asked, a joking tone in his voice and a lazy smile upon his face. He had let Madoka go to sleep in her room, as she was yawning too much for his liking.

"It's... they did..." Shibi started, stuttering. Eyebrows were raised, as the most withdrawn clan (aside from the Niotomi) was stuttering, a sign of hiding something.

"What happened, Shibi-san?" The Head of the Aburame took a heavy breath and put down the cup of tea that had been offered to him as soon as he'd arrived. Dai himself, was sipping his own tea when he answered.

"They formed a Marriage Pact."

Dai's hand clenched, and the cup shattered, scorching hot tea splashing onto his hand, and dripping to the ground. Simultaneously, his brown eyes closed tightly, and any spiders that had hung around for any stray bugs from Shibi had scattered like dust in the wind, for Niotomi Dai's anger was well known throughout the arachnid kingdom.

There were several things going through Dai's mind right now. Many of which revolved around Shibi's insolence.

" _How_?" He snarled, not bothering to hide his growing anger. This went against all the Niotomi stood for.

Shibi adjusted his glasses, cleared his throat, and opened his mouth. Dai noted that a quite a few bugs had escaped from Shibi's trench coat, and were now watching the scene unfold with their tiny bug eyes.

"I found them right after they performed the ritual. Before you ask, no, I had no idea as to what they were doing or else I would've-"

"Were doing?" Dai interjected sharply, eyes snapping open, "You knew they were doing something, yet didn't stop them?!"

Shibi chose his next words very carefully.

"Shino accidentally woke me up, but he lied to me. So, me trusting my son, I went back to bed."

Shibi tried to convince himself that Dai wouldn't hurt him, but the red veins of anger that had quickly protruded from the whites of the Niotomi's eyes told him otherwise.

He took deep breaths for a few minutes, scrunched, and unscrunched his red eyebrows a few times, and almost started yelling.

"I assume they didn't know it was a Marriage Pact?" Dai asked carefully, trying to bring down his anger.

"After questioning my son, yes. He told me they wanted a Friendship Pact. I examined the scroll and the kanji for 'marraige' had faded, as it was so old." If Dai actually wanted a fight, Shibi would give him one, as he wasn't the only angry father.

"How did they acquire the instructions for the pact?"

As Shibi explained everything to Dai, the Niotomi father kept seeing red. Only one question stood between them parting ways, and it was a heavy one.

"Can it be undone?"

"No. It's an old pact from the times when Konohagakure was founded. The Aburame found it necessary to bound each other's lives together, as most of them couldn't live without the other. It was banned from ever being used 30 years ago, and I had planned on burning it, to make sure it was never used again."

Dai's ears heard everything, but only one phrase flashed before his eyes, haunting the father within.

" _Bound to each other?_ " Dai whispered in shock, eyes wide. The cup handle cut into his hand, as shards of porcelain dug into his skin. But he didn't notice, as the thought of his daughter's life being bound to a clan heir outweighed any pain he could be feeling.

"I'm reprimanding Shino as soon as I get home, but for now, I believe we should formulate a plan?"

"They won't leave each other's side," Dai stated firmly, getting a grip on his emotions.

"Agreed. I also believe we should inform the Hokage."

"..." Dai stayed quiet, his quick mind recognizing why they needed to inform the Hokage of what happened. If they weren't on the same team in four years, then they couldn't have each others' back.

If one died, than the other would also perish.

 **Hiruzen Sarutobi's Perspective:**

16 seconds had passed before they both appeared in the Hokage's office, one breathing harder than the other.

"Good morning, Shibi-san, Dai-san," Hiruzen Sarutobi greeted, examining the situation. One of the ANBU behind him had almost skewered Dai, as they hadn't been warned about a meeting with them, but the man had simply caught the senbon and bent it in two.

"Morning, Hokage-sama," Shibi bowed. His partner, however, didn't. Dai shared Madoka's belief in that they shouldn't have to risk their lives all for the sake of a village, and by no means, was he ever going to be proud of that.

"Is something the matter?" Hiruzen asked cautiously, feeling the killing intent rolling off of Dai in waves. He could also sense some anger coming from Shibi as well, which came as a shock because he was a calm man.

"A Marraige Pact was accidentally formed by our children," Dai informed, glaring daggers at the window behind him, as if the window was responsible for all of this.

"Ah, this... is a dilemma." The Hokage noticed that the ANBU behind him, Lion, a Niotomi himself, had stiffened up upon hearing Dai speak.

"As it can't be reversed, we request that they both be placed on the same team once they graduate," Shibi explained.

"Of course," he answered, observing the blood in one of Dai's hand, along with the red welt on it. Sniffing the room, he caught a whiff of jasmine tea, probably the reason behind the welt.

"Hokage-sama, I also request that nobody be informed of this situation," Dai insisted, gritting out his request through gritting teeth.

"I will also grant that, but no promises can be made for the people the kids decide to tell."

When all the details were worked out, the two left, one much quicker than the other. Turning his chair around, Hiruzen stared at Lion, wondering who the Niotomi were.

He hadn't gotten any information on the clan until he had become Hokage. Even then, the information was extremely limited. The folder that contained that information was just a garble of notes scribbled down about the clan from previous Hokages.

Hashirama Senju:

The Niotomi clan is well endowed. They are quick and light on their feet, as well as deadly and scarily accurate. They all appear to wear weights on all four of their limbs, even the civilian portion. As the village is new, I don't have time to look into them any further.

Tobirama Senju:

The Niotomi clan is secretive. They do not share battle tactics and the few times that they are seen, they never leave an enemy alive. All executions by all the Niotomi end in a slice to the jugular or a jab through the temple. They prefer dealing a quick death.

When I visited the clan compound, I was surprised to find spider webs everywhere. When I commented on the matter, the subject was changed or avoided, which arose my suspicions. Later, I found out from the Clan Head that the Niotomi clan possessed the summoning scroll for spiders. After questioning as to why nobody else told me when I confronted them, the Clan Head informed me that only he was allowed to give that information out.

Minato Namikaze:

The Niotomi clan are withdrawn and secretive about everything. I'd get into the incidents of how far they go to keep things a secret, but **apparently** I'm supposed to only write important things in here.

When I realized that all of the clan trained (including civilians) I ordered some ANBU Dog, Frog, and Rabbit to investigate. Only two came back: Dog and Frog. Dog and Frog had very different stories on what happened to Rabbit.

Dog's story:

Rabbit had entered the Clan Head's house to investigate on what went on in the clan. Before this even happened, Frog had immediately disagreed, as he himself was a Niotomi, but Rabbit didn't listen, and only accused Frog of keeping secrets.

Rabbit appeared 7 minutes later with a small, angry red gash on the back of his neck. He said he had just entered the library in the Clan Head's house, when he'd been bitten by a black spider with a red hourglass. The strange thing was that nobody seemed to stop him, but on the way out, Rabbit saw someone important staring at him as he exited the house with the spider bite. He'd killed the spider as soon as he felt it.

Dog then asked Frog if he had the cure, as he was apart of the clan, but Frog said there was no cure.

During the transport of taking Rabbit to the hospital, he died from the spider's venom.

Frog's Story:

He was snooping around, and got what was coming to him. I tried to warn him, but _they_ _never_ _listen_.


	13. Chapter 13

Probability: the odds or evens of an event occurring based off of numbers. It was a strange thing, Madoka wondered, as everytime you did something, you increased or decreased the chance of something happening. In her case, the probability of her being reprimanded by her father had been growing ever since she'd befriended the Aburame boy.

Yes, she thought, that was his name: the Aburame boy.

The dying sun cast a soft orange glow onto her sweaty face. She breathed in softy, taking every breath as if it were her last. The training ground was her demise, she decided, throwing off her shoes and digging her tired feet into the moist green grass. Dirt squinched between her toes, but she wasn't in the mood for caring.

"Madoka, do you need any other reminder as to who you are?" Dai snapped harshly, standing above her. Her father's arms were crossed, and he wasn't moving other than to blink and stare at her. His burgundy hair was tied up in a perfect ponytail, as nothing else was acceptable for him.

"Yes... Otou..." She breathed, taking in large gulps of air. Forget breathing softly, she felt like she couldn't breath. She didn't need to look up to realize that he still wasn't thrilled with her.

"You can still talk?" He snarled, uncrossing his arms. Madoka winced, trying to dig her feet farther into the squishy mud, as if she could escape her enraged father through the ground.

" _Get up_."

"Otou... I can't-"

"You're going to learn what it means to be a Niotomi," he snapped, snatching her arm in a firm grip. His entire hand made her arm look like a twig. With a sudden jolt, she was yanked to her feet. She stayed silent, still too tired to do anything.

"You will run around this training ground a hundred times," her father commanded, a steely tone in his voice, "then, you'll run another hundred. Then, another. Then, you'll realize that you don't want to ever bring attention to yourself again. _Understand_?"

Madoka meekly nodded, trying to resist the urge to hang her head in exhaustion. Slowly, _very slowly,_ she started jogging, legs burning from sprinting just four laps.

It was the Aburame boy's fault. If he hadn't looked so fucking lonely, than she wouldn't be running 300 laps around a fucking huge training ground. She should've just hung her head and went along with the Academy.

Creases appeared on her forehead, and she gritted her teeth. Half a lap in, and her legs were starting to burn. The now 30 pound weights weren't helping, as her arms felt like lead.

When she passed her father after her first lap, he was no longer frowing, and instead looked lost in his thoughts. She didn't dare stop.

After he'd told her what had happened, Dai had kept Madoka home for 'conditioning.'

To pass the time, she tried to think up of cuss words. It was the third lap, and it was becoming harder and harder to keep her eyes open. To really emphasize his point, Dai had made her jog a 10 lap warmup, which wasn't very difficult, but then he ordered Camel spiders to start chasing her, knowing that she thought Camel spiders were creepy. Then, he'd given her a break after the four lap sprint. Now, she was here.

That stupid, fucking Aburame had ruined her life, and she was never going to talk to anyone again.

Like a good little Niotomi, she'd bury her head in a book, shut her mouth, and be ignored with all the other forgotten, lost, ignored things.

Towards her fifth lap, it was actually getting difficult to keep her eyes open. She'd been here since 9:00 in the morning, and judging from her father's stern glare, she wasn't leaving anytime soon.

Her legs had turned to lead; they'd gone numb, but it wasn't cold. Strings of sweat glistened on the tanned Niotomi's skin, and her shirt and shorts were drenched.

That fucking Aburame was th-

Her legs gave out in the middle of her 7th lap, and she didn't bother catching herself.

She was asleep before her head hit the ground.

 **Kakashi's Perspective:**

He wasn't sure where he'd been going, but now he was here. He faintly remembered having to pick up garden supplies from the Yamanaka Shop, but that was long forgotten, as he watched a father torment his daughter.

He'd arrived just as Dai was giving her a talking to about accidentally forming a Marraige contract. Now, Kakashi didn't know what the hell that was, but after hearing Dai say something about the girl's and boy's lives being bound together, he decided he wouldn't interfere. Kami help him if he got a target painted on his back by interfering with an ancient clan.

"Otou... I'm sorr-" she tried to say, but was forced to increase her speed as the large white spiders were gaining on her.

"You'll learn. _Everyone does._ "

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. He wasn't sure which he was more pissed about, not being able to interfere, or the fact that he was witnessing child abuse right before his very eye.

The Hatake had almost stopped the tired, redheaded girl from running, when a hand grabbed his wrist. Eyes widening, he brandished a kunai so quick, that normal eyes wouldn't have been able to catch it. To his utter shock, another hand snatched his wrist, stopping him from impaling the intruder. Glancing up, Kakashi couldn't believe it, when he saw a black and white Lion mask staring back at him.

"Don't interfere," the ANBU ordered, releasing his hands.

"Under who's authority?" Kakashi asked calmly.

"This is private clan training. You're trespassing on Niotomi clan grounds."

Kakashi was about to retort when he felt a soft pressure on his hair, the chakra signature so tiny, he would've missed it if he wasn't paying attention. A curious hand wandered to his hair, before the ANBU put up his own hand, signaling him to stop. Kakashi halted, as he realized that this ANBU was a Niotomi.

"Leave with your life. I believe every clan has a right to persecute those who infringe on their right to keep clan secrets." With a slow nod, Kakashi felt the pressure on his ear subside. Snapping his head up, he didn't spot what it was, but he couldn't sense the ANBU's chakra anymore.

Shunshining away, Kakashi immediately reported to the Hokage's office, suddenly very interested in reporting missing information on one of the oldest clans in he history of Konohagakure.


	14. Chapter 14

That night, Niotomi Madoka dreamed for the first time.

 _A desolate place, that's where she was. She was sitting on soft, warm grass. Running her fingers through it, she sighed, a feeling of calm serenity running through her. She could get used to this, Madoka decided, feeling the tingling sensation of the sun's rays on her skin. A light warm breeze blew through her hair, lightly moving any stray red strands. But that wasn't the best part, the best part was the sunset itself._

 _She wasn't sure what was so entrancing about the setting sun, but she couldn't draw her eyes from the lovely sight. The reds and oranges and yellows mixed together in one warm mesh of sunlight, and Madoka loved it._

 _"This is neat." Eyes widening slightly, Madoka quickly glanced at the Aburame boy sitting next to her. The sun's warm colors cast an orangish glow onto the boy._

 _"You're not supposed to be here," she breathed, calm brown eyes returning to the beautiful ball of light._

 _"I don't care," he whispered back, just as fixated upon the sunset as she._

 _In that moment, she was able to tear her eyes from the setting sun and concentrate on her only friend sitting next to her. Her wild red hair tickled the sides of her face as another warm breeze surrounded her, but she paid it no mind._

 _He was her only friend and she was supposed to push him away? Weren't they bound for life though? Weren't they life friends?_

 _As the last question floated through her mind like the wind did her hair, she caught sight of her strict father standing to her left. She knew he was angry and she knew..._

 _She knew she hated him._

 _As the realization hit her like a kunai does a pumpkin, Madoka was falling. It must've been a high place, because she fell for at least 6 seconds. For every second that passed, her head felt lighter and lighter, as the G-forces stacked themselves upon her falling body._

When she hit the ground, she woke up sweaty. Grimacing in disgust, she threw off the covers and felt the cold refreshing wind from her fan blow onto her. Tasting bile in her mouth, she started to move her legs.

Moving her legs was like moving weights. They were heavy, sore and didn't want to be moved. Glancing out her window, she realized that she didn't have a choice, as the skies were light blue, not black.

It was time to get up.

After a rather heated argument with the thick-skulled colony of Bagheera Kiplingi that resided within her shower, she eventually formed a temporary demand that they get out of the fucking shower so none of them would drown.

It was amazing what kind of shit you could dish out if you were tired enough, Madoka thought blankly, eyes drilling a hole into the tiles of her shower. Almost twice she fell asleep, but a quick slap to the face fixed that problem.

Two hours later, and somehow she made it to the Academy. Entering the classroom had been dull, as she had made it dull, and the fucking Uchiha was ignored, in all his righteous glory.

"Hey," he snapped, unhappy with her current attitude, "where were you? Ani and I waited and waited, but you never showed up!"

Her eyes drooped unceremoniously, uncaring and unfaithful to the attention she was receiving from a fucking toddler. A yawn escaped her, a loud one, and in that moment, she obliviously realized she'd attracted attention from a Nara.

"Sorry..." she waved, blinking back dreary eyes, further angering the black-haired toddler before her.

Before the Uchiha could retort, class was called into session, and Madoka sank into the shadows of the other children, forgotten, ignored, just as a good little Niotomi should.

Through her induced half-asleep daze, she managed to write down notes, not talk to anyone, and still somehow feel guilty for ignoring Shin- the Aburame boy. Still, it wasn't as though she wanted to talk to him, or any other clan brat again. If her father's punishment is what she received for talking with one, than she wanted no part of that.

Growing bored of the note taking, she lazily chances a look at her now wrapped arms, which had been bruised beyond belief from her father. Sure, her lower arms were already wrapped because of the weights, but now all skin attached to the bones within her hands had been covered with white bandages.

"Madoka-san?" Iruka-sensei called out, breaking her from her horrible recollection of yesterday, "please follow Hatake-san to the Hokage's office."

Whatever antics she'd been thinking of had vanished, as her soft brown eyes snapped open from their half-lidded gaze upon her desk. Quickly gathering her belongings, she cursed herself, as the Nara and Akamichi had their attention solely on her. What a mistake, she thought, making her way to the front of the room, where the fucking tall, white-haired nin stood, waving at her with a cheery look in his one uncovered eye.

With a tired nod, she followed him out of the classroom, where he gently shut the classroom door, separating them from prying ears.

After making sure the door was shut, the scarecrow-looking shinobi turned his uncovered eye upon her, scrutinizing her for a second.

"We've got a lot to talk about, Niotomi-chan," he stated sharp, clear, and cheerful.

Madoka's paranoia grew, warning her to keep quiet, because those were three qualities that the Niotomi were trained to stay away from.


	15. Chapter 15

Konohagakure was a bleak place filled with broken spirits, crushed dreams, and obsolete training. If Madoka was truly honest with herself, she'd say that the white-haired scarecrow man leading her to her inevitable doom had been broken too many times to count, and yet he continued on as if he hadn't ever been walked over by someone with more skill than him. His slightly hunched back, a sign that he didn't really care about good posture, yet Madoka was a Niotomi, and her clan had been taught that everything wasn't as it seemed.

Now, Madoka wasn't a particularly hateful girl, but she knew when to use her brain, and her brain was telling her to get this man to despise her, to _hate_ her. Of course, hate was a powerful word, as her father liked to say, and hate was a monstrous thing. As an 8-year old girl, it was hard to _hate_ anyone, and she imagined that it'd be even harder to hate someone once you got older.

As any other child would've asked why would you want someone to hate you, Madoka knew the answer. If they hated you, they'd try to avoid you, as nobody wants to be surrounded by hateful people. It was only a matter of _why_ she wanted this particular individual to hate her...

Madoka always followed her paranoid instincts.

The book in his hand drew her attention away from the man's posture, something, she noted, that would draw the enemy's attention as well, but she hadn't accounted for other factors: did he read that during battle? How often was he seen with the book? What did his friends think about him reading it? What was the book about?

"Why so quiet?" He asked, eyes not straying far from the orange book.

"Got nothing to say..." she muttered, adding a yawn for affect.

 **Kakashi's Perspective:**

The girl hadn't said anything, not even when she was called out of class. Strange, as she was rather talkative at the KIA Stone. What could she be thinking?

While the alluring addiction of reading his Icha Icha: Paradise sounded lovely, Kakashi couldn't tear his mind from this random girl. Why? It was weird.

Maybe it was the curiosity of what her clan was up to, or maybe it was the child abuse he'd witnessed yesterday. When he greeted the child, she only nodded, yawned, and followed him. However, an inconspicuous yawn didn't distract the former _ANBU Captain_ from the white medical wrappings covering her arms, the slight bags under her eyes, or even her rubbing her legs twice each minute, an obvious sign of soreness. While he didn't want to admit to himself that his curiosity stemmed from her abuse, he simply couldn't ignore the slight winces when they walked uphill, towards the Hokage's Office.

He had to say something to reassure the kid. Maybe she thought she was in trouble? Kakashi certainly would've thought that at her age.

 **Madoka's Perspective:**

After the simple question of her quietness, Madoka and the foreign shinobi stayed quiet, and that was alright with Madoka. Her sleep-deprived mind kept wanting her to run from the strange shinobi, to escape the responsibility of talking to someone else, but her legs strained from just walking on a slight incline, so that was a no go.

On the way to any Niotomi's demise, Madoka's eyes didn't stray from the villagers social interactions. It made her sick to see a bright girl surrounded by her friends. It was revolting to see two strong looking shinobi, one with blue hair, the other with blond hair, to be conversing so seriously. They must be close to the Hokage, as they looked strong, and that in itself was problematic. Madoka didn't like having attention, as it shortened one's life span, and to see someone else slowly dying from attention made her want to never be them.

Stumbling slightly, Madoka tore her eyes from the attention-getting civilians and focused on the white-haired shinobi. He'd turned around and the orange book wasn't in sight. Behind him, the Hokage Tower stood proudly, gleaming in all the spilled blood of the ninja that it had killed in history. Of course, there was no blood, but Madoka was a rather dark and withdrawn girl, and that's how she thought.

"Now..." the guy started, scratching the back of his white spikes of hair, "I don't want you to feel intimidated... I want you to know that the Hokage is there to help you, okay?"

He said 'okay' like he just asked a toddler if it wanted to take a nap. Madoka noted, with an uncontrollable twitch from her sleepy eyes, that he also talked slowly, as if she was stupid.

Or maybe he didn't know how to communicate with someone her age, the logical side of her mind whispered, and in that moment, her impatience with the ninja dissapitated.

"Yeah," she replied, with a forced eye crinkle of a smile. What did kids do in this situation? What should _she_ do in this situation?

The ninja, she'd forgotten his name already, sighed, as if he was actually tense. Of course, it was probably an act. A tough, tall, white-haired, attention-grabbing shinobi like him probably has no problem talking to anyone. He probably has lots of friends, and lots of enemies. He and his friends probably go out to eat a lot, and talk, and laugh, and-

Why did she feel... bad? Was that the word? No, it was... emptiness?

Nah, that was _stupid_.

Without another word, they were in the Hokage's office, and Madoka's time to consolidate a plan was up, and the weird feeling was gone.

The office was round, wooden, and cluttered. Stacks of paperwork rose to the ceiling, and with a childish thought, Madoka wondered how they even stayed balanced.

In the middle of the room, in front of a large window, the Hokage's desk sat, and behind it, the man of the hour.

He wasn't grand and gracious or adorned in war medals, as she had previously imagined. Instead, he had on a red robe with a white pullover on. Upon his head sat the Hokage's hat, a red square that sat like a diamond. A white beard told her he was old, and the wrinkles on his face only amplified that fact. However, the six lines underneath both his eyes revealed that he was from a powerful clan, and he was. She'd learned that in the Academy.

"Ah, Niotomi Madoka! I've been waiting for a long time to meet you," he exclaimed, a wide smile on his wrinkled face. She noticed that he had that deep, graty voice that all old men seemed to havez

"..." She didn't want to speak, didn't want to move, didn't want to ruin the situation even more. Why was she here?

"Uh, nice to meet you, Hokage-sama!" She exclaimed, slightly realizing that perhaps she was acting a little too happy.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." After that, he chuckled, as if Madoka was his friend and she had just told him a funny joke. "Now, I know you might be wondering why you're here. Do you know why?"

She subconsciously remembered that the white-haired guy was also in the room with them, yet hadn't said a word.

"Uh..." Glancing at the shinobi, she looked back to the old Hokage, wondering why they couldn't be alone.

"Kakashi is a very secretive shinobi. What you tell me will never be uttered outside this room. _You can trust him_."

Even though Madoka was frozen, not knowing how to handle the situation, the last words took a while, ten seconds to be precise, to sink in.

"Well, perhaps, Hokage-sama, she needs to know as to why she's here?" Kakashi commented in a light, suggestive voice that hinted that he had an obvious secret. The Hokage nodded, and Madoka could see his cheerful, old man eyes turn into the eyes of a man determined to reach a goal.

"Kakashi saw you yesterday, Madoka-san."

And with that sentence, Niotomi Madoka knew with a sudden chill on her arms and the feeling you get when you're right about an instinct, that she was in much deeper trouble than the two men had been letting on.


	16. Chapter 16

"You see, Madoka-san, we're concerned with your father's training methods," the Hokage started with concerned eyes, staring at the girl, as if waiting for her answer. Instead of a counterpoint, however, Madoka took a page from her father's book and said something about probabilities.

"Did you know that you're 50% likely to die just by stepping outside?"

Kakashi and the Hokage were both taken aback. White eyebrows raised at the random fact.

"Excuse me...?" Madoka couldn't believe the white haired ninja had just asked her a question. What a revelation, but she had to keep going. If she stopped the stupidity now, they'd surely think she was trying to change the subject.

"Did you know that kunai can scratch bone better than tree bark?" Now she was on a roll. With all the useless facts Otou had told her about interrogation, there was no way the Hokage, of all people, would take her seriously. Why was she even here, now that she thought about it. Why was she deemed so important, that the leader of a Hidden Village wanted to speak to her?

"Madoka-chan, I don't think you understand the severity of the situation-"

"And you, uh... Kakashi-senpai?" She waited before he nodded at the awkward honorific, "Did you know, that someone is more likely to defect from their village if they're aware that they've spilled village secrets to an interrogator?"

Bending down, Kakashi placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, and Madoka's stomach flopped. How was she going to get out of this one? Ugh, so much attention...

"Madoka-chan, we're just trying to protect you," Kakashi stated, a serious look in his uncovered eye.

"Protect me from what?" Madoka questioned suddenly, a clever thought snaking its way into her mind.

Kakashi's eye narrowed, and his grip tightened. In that instant, the man with the steely grip realized what she was doing. He knew what she was playing, because he had played the game before.

Against the wishes of her clan, she couldn't help the sneaky, devilish smile from forming on her lips.

"You know what I'm talking about," Kakashi tried again, this time in a more affirmative tone, and his grip on her shoulder had loosened.

Licking her lips, the suddenly bold Niotomi carefully thought over the repercussions of her next two words for a couple of moments. It all depended on what order she said her words in, for the different orders meant two very different things.

"Do I?"

"You're lucky you have a Kage that cares so much, Madoka-chan, other children aren't so lucky," Kakashi resided with a sigh, releasing her shoulder. Madoka realized with a residing grin, that it sounded as though the white-haired ninja didn't seem to want to help her anymore. It made her feel strange, like the empty feeling she had when she saw the attention-getting people.

"Can I... can I go now?" She mumbled, glancing to her worn shoes.

The Hokage leaned back in his chair, stroked his beard, and said yes.

Madoka never hated herself as in that moment, getting attention from the two most attention getters in all of Konohagakure.

 **AN: I know chapters are short, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. Feel free to unfollow or unfavorite if you aren't satisfied.**


	17. Chapter 17

In the Academy the next day, Iruka taught them about the three types of Jutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu. Madoka thought it was uneventfully boring, until he told them that they had to think of what they wanted to specialize in for their future. He'd made it sound entirely optional, and in fact, most of the class didn't even listen to his strangely passionate lecture of specializing in something.

Of the few things Madoka ever listened to, it was Iruka's lecture. After all, one was more likely to survive with a few extra skills under their belt. Plus, she wasn't feeling like a good person after ignoring Shino during lunch and class, so she tried to convince herself that she was justified by occupying herself with studies.

She was so dedicated, that she actually went up to Iruka after class had been dismissed for the day, completely missing the longing look Shino sent her way, before he eventually left the class with all the other ignorant future ninja. Mizuki followed shortly after, grumbling about brats.

"Iruka-sensei?" She murmered, trying to avoid his scrutinizing gaze.

"Yes, Madoka-san?" Iruka replied, slightly raising an eyebrow. It wasn't everyday a student actually asked him a question.

"... In class, you said something about specializing in a particular skill. I was thinking of maybe following your advice... but I don't know what skills there are, ya know?"

Iruka blinked, once, twice, a third time, before a smile creeped onto his face. Finally, someone was actually showing an interest in what he said.

"Well, Madoka-san, first of all, I'd like to thank you for taking the initiative to come ask me," Iruka thanked, secretly pleased that he'd finally made progress with at least one of his students, "Now, about skill sets. There are multiple skills you can learn and many are very useful. They can be simple, like perfecting your taijutsu, or be developed to help you with multiple things, like building your supply of chakra, or your life energy. Or maybe you can go into poisons, a useful and common skill, or be a medical ninja, and heal yourself and teammates. What were you thinking of?" He asked with a glint in his eyes. She showed potential, but would she take the initiative?

Madoka thought over what he said. Poisons? That might be useful. Medical ninja? That might be out of the question, as if you saved someone, that would grab attention. Taijutsu? She was on that path already, with her father, but there was always room for improvement.

"You mentioned a couple of days ago about a jutsu that could transform you into someone else," Madoka stated, coming to a conclusion.

"Yes..." Iruka said slowly, not sure where she was going with this, "I could show you, if you want." Iruka's curiosity grew when Madoka nodded.

"Transformation Jutsu!" The chuunin yelled, forming one hand sign. In a 'poof' of smoke, Iruka was replaced with Madoka, or her, er... doppelgänger.

How strange, Madoka wondered, he looked just like her. In a flurry of wonder and slight excitement, she circled him, taking in every aspect and every detail. The doppelgänger had everything, her blue shirt, black shorts and shoes, even her hair, her spiky, uncontrollable bright red hair. On a hunch, Madoka stood on her tiptoes and looked for the telltale signs of her signature Black Widows, but strangely enough, they weren't there.

"Do you sound like me?" Madoka questioned, still inspecting the copy-cat.

"Yes, if I've heard your voice before."

"That's weird..." the real Niotomi murmured, finishing her examination of the transformation.

"How so?" Iruka replied, raising a red eyebrow and crossing his arms. Madoka noted that to perform this jutsu, you'd also have to adapt the transormee's attitude and body language, or else it wouldn't be believable.

"So... since everyone has a different voice, if you've heard someone else's voice, you can imitate that?"

"Yes, but only if you've heard it before, otherwise you'll have to keep silent while under the transformation."

After a few moments of silent thinking, Madoka asked another question.

"Is this a ninjutsu, because I... I, um, I think it requires chakra, or is it a genjutsu, because you've changed an image?"

 **Iruka's Perspective:**

What a thrill, to have one of his students asking questions... but they were strange questions, questions that Iruka hadn't bothered asking back when he was in the Academy.

Can you change into someone bigger than you?

 _Yes, but every form you take requires more or less chakra than another form. Plus, you have to keep chakra flowing through you to keep up the transformation. We'll talk about it sometime next year._

Why do you yell "Transformation Jutsu" when you perform the jutsu?

 _I, er... I'm not sure._

Can you tell the name of one jutsu, but perform another jutsu?

 _That's very clever, Madoka-san. I've never thought of that before and I've never seen that done during a battle. You could try, but I'd keep it a secret, because it's not good to tell others about your secret skill sets... and I'll help you figure it out, if you want._

Why does smoke appear after you do it?

 _I'm not sure, but I'll also help you figure that out if you want._

What happens if you're on someone's back and they're running 15 miles per hour and you throw an apple in the opposite direction at 15 miles per hour?

 _Huh?_

What happens if you accidentally stab a jounin? Are you prosecuted, or killed on the spot?

 _Wait, why would you ask tha-?_

Where's the nearest casino?

 _I think we're getting off topi-_

Is it possible to alter the movement of momentum with chakra, since it seems as you can do practically anything with it?

 _I, um..._

Thanks for the help, Iruka-sensei!

When she left, Iruka had questions of his own about the Transformation Jutsu.


	18. Chapter 18

Fuinjutsu was the most complex, abstract, and difficult thing Madoka had ever tried to start learning. Iruka-sensei had mentioned it earlier that week, and this weekend, Madoka was actually going to make her father proud for once, and learn a brand new skill. After making this silent vow to herself, she visited the Konohagakure Shinobi Library. This of course, was very different from the Konohagakure Civilian Library, where civilians learned about history, farming, and economics. Of course, Madoka would visit that library too, but after she had a brief understanding of Fuinjutsu.

Fuinjutsu, by definition, was the art of sealing, or slapping a seal on the ground and have it do something. At first glance at the book's definition, Madoka was definitely sure that there was no way she'd master this all in one weekend. From what she'd read so far, it all started and ended with one seal.

As the language of Genjutsu and Ninjutsu was hand signs, the language of Fuinjutsu was essentially the same, but just hand signs written onto paper, which made them symbols; symbols that were in no way, shape, or form related to kanji, hieroglyphics, or shapes. The symbols were shaped like leaves, spikes, dots, random objects, or anything else. Each symbol meant something different, like the shape of a spike meant Exploding, or if there were dots within the seal, it meant that something was entering the seal, or Entering. If the dots were outside of the seal, then it meant the seal would eject whatever was in it, or Releasing.

And of course, whatever was released, plus how much was released, had its own individual symbols.

After she read about symbols, Madoka dwelled into the subject of where to place the symbols. The top of the seal was what you wanted to happen, and the bottom of the seal was the time, place, and trigger of how it happened. Of course, if you wanted a more complex seal, then you added onto the sides, but never the bottom, because along with programming the seal, the bottom functioned as the energy source that powered the top of the seal. If you added onto the bottom, then disastrous things happened, such as self-impalement, spontaneous combustion, or making a seal that sucked up whatever touched it.

Every seal was different, no matter how much time you took to make one perfectly exact to another. It just wasn't possible, and the reason that no seal was exactly like another was because no matter how precise or exact somebody tried, the ink used to form the seal always leaked outside the lines of whatever was being painted. It was a microscopic reason that no two seals were the same, but if you painted them just right, you'd have similar effects. Not the same, but similar.

With all this information within a book she couldn't take home, Madoka brandished a piece of paper and wrote a brief summary of what she'd just read, along with a list of symbols and pictures of them.

Straight Spike = Exploding

Dots Outside Seal = Releasing

Dots Inside Seal = Entering

Spike Leaning to Left = Controlling

Spike Leaning to Right = Chakra Draining

Wavy Line = Water

Straight Line = Tunneling

Her list was long, and she had multiple papers by the time she was done copying all the symbols in Konoha down. There were so many more symbols in different villages, and Madoka couldn't imagine memorizing them all.

Fuinjutsu was almost as frustrating as having to ignore the Aburame boy. Closing the book with a loud thud, Madoka laid her head on the worn red cover and wondered if she would even be able to make an Exploding Seal before the weekend was over. It was Friday afternoon, so she had plenty of time, but she also needed to study more.

Why was she even doing this? Was it because Fuinjutsu was interesting? Or maybe ignoring Shino made her feel terrible…? No, Madoka told herself, she was ignoring the Aburame boy and she wouldn't feel bad about it anymore.

Yes, she thought confidently, putting the dust-ridden red Fuinjutsu book back on the shelves, she wouldn't feel bad, because she'd made a silent vow to cover the basics of Fuinjutsu to impress her father. But in the end, Madoka reminded herself, why was she even trying to impress him in the first place...?

Shoving all doubtful thoughts to the side, Madoka snatched another Fuinjutsu book, this time, purple, and made her way back to the lonely corner with a lonely table, and one measly, small, ignored, lonely chair. Picking up her pencil, the 8-year old attempted once more to immerse herself into the world of Fuinjutsu, and forget abandoning her only friend.

It was hard.


	19. Chapter 19

**A Black Widow's Perspective:**

 _Tremble._

 _Tremble._

As vibrations traveled through the tiny spiders legs, she opened all eight black eyes lazily, not in a rush. The red puffs of hair that she referred to as home had shaken slightly.

She glanced to the left.

The replacement sister was still sleeping.

She glanced to her right.

The eldest of the sisters was slumbering as well.

 _Tremble._

Crawling to the end of the red forest, the sleepy Widow was greeted with the familiar tan surface of her host's forehead. The host was still staring at a... what did the hosts call it? A book?

Yes, it was a book, the spider remembered.

 _Tremble._

The second-oldest Widow had figured out what the vibrations were, and why the red forest was moving. The host was blowing wind through her... mouth?

Host words were strange.

The once sleepy arachnid didn't want to return to the red forest. It was boring and dull, and there wasn't anything to eat in there.

 _Tremble._

The hairs on the Widow's legs curled, and she knew that the host was talking. Maybe it had something to do with her not being in the red forest?

"Someone's curious..." The host muttered, flipping a layer in the... book. Yes, that was the word.

Her legs moved forwards, and the spider gazed upon strange symbols. The layer of the book that the host was gazing at looked familiar, yet strangely foreign, as most things were with the hosts. It had words, that much she knew, but she didn't know what the words said. Besides the words, were the allusive symbols that alluded the spider's memory.

 _Tremble._

An ugly thing with wings landed on her host's hand. Remembering how juicy that ugly thing had tasted as a young arachnid, the Widow gathered her legs to the center of herself and bent them, trying to best guess the angle at which to jump.

It had been a long time since this specific Widow had feasted upon such a treat. Back at the nest, faster, more powerful arachnids caught the creatures first. She had only eaten it once, as a treat from her deceased mother, but once you taste something that good, you never forget the flavor.

 **Madoka's Perspective:**

She kept her hand still, feeling the spider on her forehead tensing up. The flies were disgusting and she'd gladly let one die. Fuinjutsu was forgotten for a moment as Madoka felt the spider leap from her face and on to the fly. It almost got away, but the spider had extended all of its legs as far as it could and caught the fly's wing as it almost escaped.

Waiting for the spider to sink its tiny fangs into its victim, Madoka gently brushed it off her hand. It landed on the table. Strangely enough, it stared at her for a couple of seconds before turning to its dying victim that was helplessly buzzing loudly. The venom finished it off quickly.

The library was quiet, Madoka observed, ignoring the spider slowly eating the fly besides her book. The bags under her eyes indicated how long she'd been up last night studying Fuinjutsu. Shino... the Aburame boy had been on her mind all day yesterday, and today wasn't an exception. She had finally gained a friend, and it had been awesome.

Shaking her head quickly, Madoka tried to get her mind off such controversial thoughts. She turned her attention to the unfinished Fuinjjtsu book that specified what type of paper and ink one had to use to create a valid seal.

 **The Black Widow's Perspective:**

How nice, the host was, to stay so still. Sinking her fangs into the now dead thing, the Widow tasted the juice, the delicious juice. This was her second time consuming such an ugly creature. They buzzed and zipped around so loudly, boasting of how none could catch them.

How... iron? Ion? Nicotine? Ironicy? The Widow couldn't remember the word for such an occasion, but who could?

Such big words, so much to remember.

The arachnid coated her fangs in a clear coat of venom. It would take some time before it fully hardened on her fangs, but that was okay. She wouldn't have to worry about catching new prey tonight, or spinning silk.

Silk spinning was an intricate art within the arachnid kingdom and many prided themselves in it, often gleaming over who had the best looking silk. This specific Widow, however, did not care for the art. It took too long, and the masterpiece was usually ruined by the hosts anyway.

Why bother creating something that would be soiled later?

Crawling onto her host's tan... (Are? Mar? Arm... yes, that was it) arm, the Widow gazed her eight black eyes upon the daughter of the host called Deadly. She was sure that wasn't actually what the host was called, but she'd heard stories of Deadly. Her older sisters had warned against having Deadly as a host, which is why she'd chosen his daughter as one.

The stories came from old and young Poecilotheria. Every time Deadly leaves the hosts' nest on a mission, usually around 15-20 Poecilotheria leave the arachnids' nest with him.

Around two or three ever return alive. Sometimes he brings back their bodies, if the situation isn't too dangerous on his mission, but he rarely gets the chance to. Those who leave _and_ have survived Deadly's missions, are never appointed to go with him again. They usually serve younger host members from then on, or help increase the Poecilotheria population.

Of course, Poecilotheria weren't the only species to go on missions with the feared host. Many members of Atrax Robustus also went on these terrible missions. Unlike the Poecilotheria, however, due to their strangely fast speed, members of Atrax Robustus actually live to tell the tales. Plus, they're crazy! They actually go back out on missions with Deadly after their first mission with him.

Hopefully Deadly's daughter wouldn't become a cruel and scary legend like Deadly.

* * *

 **AN: I'm back! I included something that's never been seen, and don't regret it one bit. I've never seen the perspective of a beast or insect, and I want to show everyone what it looks like. If you don't like this change, than oh well. Unsubscribe, unfavorite, unread, do whatever you want, because that's how the cookie crumbles.**


	20. Chapter 20

**AU: It's been forever my readers! Now, into my story... it might be a wee short, but I'm trying to gauge everyone's reaction to this chapter, so typically, reviews are needed ASAP.**

* * *

 **Shino's P.O.V.**

Madoka hadn't been to class for two days. _Two days_. But why should it bother him? After all, he had duties to his clan. He had the Academy to focus on. He was surrounded by his fellow peers.

Peers, not friends.

" _Friend_ , not friends," he corrected silently, wistfully glancing out the broken window. Naruto had broken it yesterday, in some attention-seeking fit of an entrance.

Shino had rightfully tried to ignore her absence the first day, and had just succeeded, letting sleep claim his anxiety last night. He was thankful for his large, dark glasses. They hid the slight bags of sleep negligence.

Gathering the homework papers to turn into Iruka-sensei, Shino couldn't stop glancing out that broken window, as if he was expecting something. Inside, his bugs buzzed, nervously chattering in their language, skittering amok in and out of his skin, hidden by his overly large coat.

 _"Where...?"_

 _"Red hair..."_

 _"Spiders..."_

At the last word, his bugs stopped silent where ever they were, and Shino didn't know why. He didn't particularly care either.

 _Where was she?_

 **Shino's Kikaichūs' (Shino's Bugs') P.O.V.**

"Spiders..," one of the millions of brothers and sisters murmured, heard by all. Collectively, all the kikaichū stopped moving, remembering the face of death as one mind.

Large, deadly sharp fangs, ending your life.

Eight, long, strong, terrible, lightning quick legs, quick as the blink of a fly, snatching you up, bringing you to the fangs that await unfortunate souls...

Strangely, as if a cold gust of wind blew, everyone resumed their work of pacing into and out of the host, trying to remember the red hair.

Trying to forget about arachnids.


	21. Chapter 21

**AU: Hello and thank you for all the support!**

* * *

 **Madoka's P.O.V.**

"Shino-san, I wanted to apologize for..."

"Aburame-san, let's stop this pettiness... Ugh, that sounded _so_ stupid!" Watching the random spiders skitter in and out of her bedsheets, Madoka suddenly whirled around, making eye contact with her reflection.

"Oh, Aburame-san, please... I can't live without you!" She proclaimed rather loudly, eyes closed. Throwing herself on her bed, uncaring if some spiders were squished, Madoka let out a scream into her pillow. This was far too difficult.

Was it Shino or Aburame?

 _Friend or acquaintance?_

Why couldn't she decide?

"Hurry up, Madoka!" Her father barked from the kitchen. Madoka glared at her door. She did _not_ want to go to the Academy. But if she didn't go, she wouldn't see Shino.

Realizing that her father wasn't playing, she threw herself off her bed, into her black sandals, and looked at herself once more in the mirror.

Wild red hair: not brushable. Bruises on her arms, and legs, covered with white bandages. Inside her skin, her muscles were begging her to stay home one more day, to tell Otou that she still wasn't ready.

She opened the door, grabbed her lunch, and left for the Academy.

Niotomi Dai left for T&I shortly after.

 **Shino's P.O.V.**

It was raining, and his bugs were buzzing with excitement, a combination usually unheard of.

Shino himself was in a depression of negligence. Day #3 of no Niotomi Madoka, and Shino was considering that she had died. What else could he do? He couldn't focus, couldn't sleep, couldn't eat.

What was _wrong_ with him?

The bugs chanted to each other in excitement. Why were they excited, Shino wondered. There was no point in eve-

His train of thought had been interrupted by a cure to his depression. Pale slim fingers had opened the classroom door, and a mane of red hair looked into the class, before walking to her normal seat by Shino and sitting down.

Shino was doing his best not to show exactly how excited he was, but the urge to hug the Niotomi member was very strong in the Aburame heir. He was about to ask her well... _everything,_ but then he noticed how she looked.

Dark bags rested under her brown eyes. Her fierce red hair was spiky, giving off an impression of anger. Now, Shino had suspected that she was wearing weights, but he didn't know how that correlated with the white bandages wrapped around her upper arms and thighs. She had walked with a stiffness of sore muscles, and had sat down with a wince. Most of all, what drew Shino's attention the most, was that she hadn't even greeted him.

 _Why hadn't she greeted him?_

 _Did he do something wrong?_

 _She hated him, didn't sh-_

"Good morning, Aburame-san," a quiet voice greeted.

 **Madoka's P.O.V.**

"Good morning, Aburame-san," she muttered, slightly wincing at how meek and terrible her voice sounded.

"What happened to you?" He asked immediately, deep voice sounding much better than her pathetic attempt at a greeting. Madoka made a slight glance to the bug-user, and was met with a ferocious glare of glasses.

He wanted an answer.

Opening her mouth, the young Niotomi was about to answer when the memories of the last few days came rushing back.

 _Training. Otou... no, Niotomi Dai. His red hair dancing back and forth as he sent kunai after kunai after shuriken at her. Yelps of pain as she failed to dodge 22% of the attacks._

She closed her mouth, and her mind from making the misconceptions of attention. Attention was bad. Being ignored was good.

"I was just sick, ya know?" The Black Widows in her hair paced back and forth slowly along her hairline. "But, I'm all better now!" She exclaimed, shooting him a smile, however fake it may be.

"I can safely say that you weren't sick," Shino replied. Seeing her about to object, Shino held his hand up. "But I am glad that you're okay now."

His gaze never left hers, and Madoka allowed a little smile to make its way to her face. His silent stare asked her _"Are you really okay?"_

"Yeah," Madoka said without a waver, "I'm okay now."

She couldn't see his mouth, but the Niotomi just knew he had a smile on his face and knowing this, she smiled, too.

In that moment, Madoka forgot the mere fact that someone cared about her well being, and had given her attention. It went against all the principles of the Niotomi. It went against everything they held dear.

A deadly whisper of rebellion entered Madoka's head, one that shouldn't have ever made an appearance at all.

 _It's just one friend. What harm could that do?_


	22. Chapter 22

**AU: Hey, sorry for the short break! As an apology for the unannounced break, let me give you guys something good… Lol I don't know if it'll be good, so just read. If you like it, I need feedback immediately!**

* * *

 **Frog's P.O.V.**

Frog was in excellent health. Why wouldn't he be? Sure he didn't really know how old he was, but he was certain that he wasn't thirty yet. Why did the Hokage reluctantly send him on an A-Ranked mission? Reluctantly! Was he concerned for the Niotomi's health? Was he just teasing?

"Eh, Frog, how old are you?" Lizard asked, perched on a nearby branch.

"How old are you?" Frog deflected, catching a stray fly that had been irritating him for the past hour. The ageless ANBU operative then dropped the insect carcass down his shirt.

"I want to know, too," Mouse commented, a few branches away.

"Yeah, and why'd you drop that fly down your shirt?" Duck added, shifting her weight on the same branch Frog was on. The four-man cell team was supposed to be keeping an eye out for a caravan that'd be passing under them any minute now. They all suppressed their chakra signatures long ago, as not to be taken by surprise.

"Why does it matter? Maybe I just have a thing for flies," Frog shamelessly answered, ignoring the circle of Black Widows on his chest that were trying to find an even way to split a fly six ways.

"You're a freak."

"Speak for yourself, Mouse," Frog retorted, trying to think of some juice he'd heard about Mouse a couple days ago, "Didn't you sleep with Mitarashi last week?"

"Holy shit," Duck snorted, keeping an eye on the worn dirt road beneath them. Frog heard Lizard cackle at the same time he heard Mouse clear his throat.

All noises from the cell disappeared like lightning striking the earth. The unit looked to Mouse, who sent information via sign language.

" _How far?_ " Frog signed.

" _500 feet_ ," Mouse answered.

" _How many?_ " Duck asked. Mouse closed his eyes for a moment, his messy brown hair flowing gently with the breeze. Frog looked to Lizard, and as expected, Lizard had picked up on the caravan riders' scents. Mouse opened his eyes and signed, " _7_ ," at the same time that Lizard signed " _8_."

Now, Frog wasn't a sensory-nin like Mouse, or an Inuzuka, like Lizard, but he was a Niotomi, and he didn't trust either one of them. Why should he? An enemy-nin could be hiding their chakra signature, just like them.

" _Duck? Feel anything?_ " Frog signed, glancing at the blonde Genjustu-specialist, her hair flowing freely just above her shoulders.

Duck's hair wasn't that long.

Frog immediately put his hands together and whispered "Kai," sending a brief but refreshing surge of chakra through his anatomy. As soon as the energy reached his eyes, the illusion was revealed and Frog instantly put a hand on Duck's arm and sent a flare of chakra through her system. The caravan was under them, and this was a problem.

"What happe-"Before Frog could slap a hand over her mouth, a kunai pierced the back of her head, killing her instantly. Frog didn't even bother catching her body or looking to see who had thrown the kunai. Lizard and Mouse were already out of the illusion and both immediately followed Frog's instinct and Body-Flickered several feet away from the scene of Duck.

" _Don't let that caravan escape,_ " Frog signed quickly, his hands a blur. The other two ANBU members nodded.

" _3 nin. 5 civilians_ ," Mouse signed back.

"Looks like they were special-nin," a deep voice rang out, near Duck's body.

"Wow, look at that, we've got a squad of ANBU from Konoha," another voice commented. Mouse and Lizard had fanned out, flanking the caravan from both sides.

Frog put his hands together, muttered a summoning technique, and bit his finger.


End file.
